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theragethatisdesire · 1 year

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cowboy jean nsfw alphabet please i beg of you🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

oh you guys are going to kill me. kill me dead!!!! but i .....i cannot resist. i lowkey thought everyone had forgotten about our yeehaw boy but he haunts my dreams so i MUST. i'm so excited hehehehe.

nsfw yeehaw daddy headcanons below the cut minors get outta here

A. Aftercare

cowboy!jean is a good ole boy. he'll never leave you sitting there panting and covered in cum, he's always going to be a gentleman and clean you up, sweetheart that he is deep down. not big into the tender loving bathtime together or anything, but he'll cuddle and make sure you're well taken care of.

B. Body part

grew up on a farm, so he appreciates a well-muscled woman, jean loves your legs, like could stare at them all day. definitely a sucker for kissing you ankle to thigh before he eats you out, takes his time. he loves late nights on the porch where you swing your feet into his lap and he can just rub on your legs for awhile as you chit chat about nothing.

C. Cum

i think cowboy!jean is the most guilty of a breeding kink. doesn't want to cum anywhere but inside you. once you tell him you've gotten on birth control and it's actually safe to cum inside you and live out his fantasy without the risk of actually getting you pregnant, he's never "wasting a drop" again, as he puts it. can't wait til the day he can put a ring on your finger and toss your pills out for good.

D. Dirty secret

would love if you took charge in the bedroom. i feel like this jean comes off as being less enthusiastic about subbing than pretty girl jean, but even though he'd never ask for/initiate it, he would go crazy watching you pin him to the bed and using him however you want to get yourself off. wants to be your personal fuck toy once or twice lol.

E. Experience

idk why all of my variations of the boys are hoes, but yes, as we saw peeking through his window (lol), jean is a true, old-fashioned wild west cowboy that has slept his way around as he travels working on different ranches, so he knows his way around a woman's body quite well. weirdly, i hc that cowboy!jean lost his virginity very young too, so he's been at it for longer than most his age.

F. Favorite position

mating press, 100%. loves seeing you pinned underneath him, powerless and wiggling against his strong grip, especially when you cum like that. also the best position to get you pregnant in (not like he researched it) again, breeding kink!!!

G. Goofy

cowboy!jean is a pretty serious person in general, very quiet and contemplative most of the time, so i wouldn't say he's too into joking around in the bedroom. afterwards, he'll stay up and giggle and trade stories with you all night, but just not during.

H. Hair

let's be real here. you're both living and working on a ranch, no one's got time to shave when they're waking up at 4:30 every morning! always has a little thatch of curly blonde hair behind the zipper without fail, and never expects you to shave for the same reason.

I. Intimacy

once you've started seeing each other more, you learn that cowboy!jean loves nothing more than a slow, sweet night between the sheets. intimacy isn't something he's well-versed in, but it comes very naturally to him. missionary, holding hands, soft little kisses, the whole nine yards. he loves to treat you like the precious little thing you are to him just as much as he loves to reduce you to tears.

J. Jack off

working on a ranch is a hard-ass job, and more often than not, jean's so achey and beat by the end of the day that he doesn't even have the energy to jack off, especially not once you've invited him to your bed. he'd much rather walk straight past his cabin over to your little house and let you take care of him with your mouth, something you're always happy to oblige. i think he literally only jacks off when you're unavailable and he really needs to, otherwise it's just not something he makes time to do when it's a choice between that or valuable sleep.

K. Kink

breeding kink obviously, but i think what really tipped him over the edge is the voyeurism kink he didn't know he had when jean realized you'd been watching him fuck around. ofc he'd never do it to you again, but the thought of you peering in, doing something so unthinkably nasty really really got him going. again, also 100% a switch, loves the rare times when you take control and take what you want from him, especially after an especially hard day at work. i think he'd also get off going to visit you at work, watching you bat your eyes at the bar patrons (for tips, ofc), knowing that he gets to be the one to take you home that night. not sure if it's a kink, but it definitely turns him on.

L. Location

once he gets over his paralyzing fear of your father, i could see cowboy!jean really having a public sex thing? like wants to take you up in the barn and fuck you in the hayloft, or take you out to a field in his truck and fuck you in the bed of it. he's just so comfortable with nature and wide open spaces that it's become a bit of a fantasy for him.

M. Motivation

cowboy!jean loves watching you get down and dirty on the ranch, especially riding your horse. one of your favorite things to do together is take your horses out and get lost in the trails and jean literally can't hold himself together and ends up fucking you against a tree out in the middle of nowhere.

N. No

definitely no impact play beyond light spanking, doesn't like to mark you up too too much in case someone on the farm could see. cowboy!jean is a gentleman, so he's not too into degradation either. think of him as the ultimate soft dom.

O. Oral

nothing, and i mean nothing in the world makes jean feel better after a long day than a sloppy blowjob. you're the best he's ever had, and he takes advantage, always beckoning you to "come get on your knees for me sugar, was thinkin' about this pretty mouth all day". and who are you to complain, i mean look at him

P. Pace/Q. Quickie

so i'm combining these solely because of cowboy!jean x reader's schedules. while a quickie isn't your preferred method of sex, it's what you're often stuck with due to his hours on the farm, your complete opposite schedule as a bartender in town, and both of your respective exhaustion after a long shift. jean won't ever let you go without even if it's just ten minutes, always makes you finish with his mouth or his fingers if he cums too quickly to get the job done fucking (which is rare). because of the nature of your schedules, jean fucks fast and hard, just the way you like it. but if you've ever both got a few days off? you're not leaving the bed, let's just put it that way.

R. Risk

cowboy!jean isn't really a risktaker in bed in my opinion. he's pretty traditional and has all of his kinks well-identified. if you really wanted to try something, i think he'd be game, but i think he prefers it to just be you and him and some consistency between you both after all the inconsistency in his life up to this point.

S. Stamina

again, cowboy!jean is such a sleepy boy LOL he needs his rest! but if he can get a day off? this dude can go for HOURS i mean like nonstop round after round after round. you're more tired on jean's day off than you are when you work a double lol. def makes the most use of his time when he can find it.

T. Toys

understands that toys are useful, but again, he likes consistency and he gets off knowing that he's the one making you feel so good. does, however, go insane when you send him videos of you playing with yourself with your toys. he has a whole folder under lock and key on his iphone 8 (LMFAO u know this man is not technologically advanced okay) of videos of you stuffing yourself with toys, moaning about how you miss him when he has to go over to other ranches to sell horses and shit.

U. Unfair

between the two of you, you are absolutely the tease. jean's just so fun to rile up. after you start sleeping together, you don't stop the antics you used to get his attention in the first place, in fact, you get worse. shorter dresses, shorter shorts, oh no! forgot to wear a bra to come check on ace down at the barn! it drives jean crazy, especially when the other stablehands are making eyes at each other and not-so-subtly nodding at your ass when you bend over to pick a few things off the ground. believe me, you're going to pay for that later.

V. Volume

dirty talker, but louder than pretty girl jean. again, lots of grunts and groans, loves to compliment you, tell you how good you're doing and how good you feel, how pretty you look, etc. again, he's the ultimate soft dom.

W. Wild card

i sort of already said this, but he loves outdoor sex. like out in nature, in the trails, bed of his truck, after swimming in the lake, etc. he just can't get enough. something about having his wild girl out in the middle of nowhere split open on him just really does it for jean.

X. X-ray

i'm going to go seven inches, but he's pretty. like, pretty pink tip, smooth, veiny. every time he pulls his pants off you just want to put him in your mouth.

Y. Yearning

i think that while jean is always super exhausted from work, when he decides in the middle of the day that your shorts are a little too tight or you've batted those pretty eyes at him one too many times, it's over. he's coming over to yours to fuck you silly, come hell or high water. with exhaustion and stress comes the need to find something to take your frustration out on, and luckily for jean, he has your body to do whatever he wants to. lucky lucky you!

Z. Zzzz

oh yes. literally within 10 minutes of you both getting cleaned up and snuggled into the sheets, jean's asleep. usually you're the one setting an alarm for the both of you so he can sneak out of your house before your father's started marching around the grounds. poor thing is just so worn out and so content laying in your arms, he's snoring before you can even turn the lamp off. precious<3

#WOOOhooooOOOO #this was a marathon but so much fun genuinely #in this house we love cowboy jean #okay last one for awhile so many apologies for blowing the dash up #i'm bad at queueing things #whatever #jean x reader headcanons #cowboy jean #cowboy like me universe #cowboy like me #cowboy like me uni #alphabet game #rage.rambles #and rambles and rambles it seems!

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olddirtybadfic · 1 year

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James's Special Delivery: James Conquers His Fear of Marriage with Meowth (part three of three)

"There once were Pokémon that married people. There once were people who married Pokémon."

I bet none of them had to worry about ending up in a sappily written mpreg. Or having their kid's name start with "Meth."

Part one

Part two

This fic contains: Pokémon/Human romantic relationship; unexplained mpreg/male pregnancy; shaky grasp of the realities of pregnancy and childrearing; lack of medical and scientific knowledge; possible out-of-character moments for Jessie, James, and Meowth; odd ideas about romance; unusual pillow talk; Meowth lingers on James's feet again; ridiculously easy resolutions to problems; attempts to rehabilitate James’s mother (she totally approved of Jessiebelle’s bullshit she deserves no mercy); both James and Meowth eat the placenta (off-screen)

-O-o-O-o-O-

James and his mother had been writing each other letters and calling each other.

James and Meowth had quit Team Rocket. They started selling legal drugs and were making a surprising amount of money. James would keep his kitten.

Bethany knew about James’s kitten. She was okay with it.

James was eight (out of nine) weeks pregnant. His mother was coming to visit their cabin.

James and Meowth were trying to save for a very small wedding. They were planning on using a wedding dress and a Meowth-sized tuxedo from their disguises.

“I’m going to look just awful in white,” James said. He wasn’t even showing that much, since Meowth kittens were smaller than human babies. He was showing a little, though, enough that he could hardly move fast.

Meowth almost wished James would give birth early. He hated to see James so uncomfortable. He decided James should stand up as little as possible.

The kitten was moving around a lot inside of James, which was a pretty weird feeling for him. He thought the kitten might be trying to come out early. He read a book about what to expect when “expecting.” It said having sex could induce labor. He grabbed Meowth and ran into the bedroom.

“Meowth, please have sex with me,” James said.

“Why?” Meowth asked.

“Because having sex might make me go into labor,” James said.

“I don’t think you’re in any condition to have sex. And you’re only eight weeks through it. That would only work if you were overdue,” Meowth said.

James collapsed onto the bed. “I’m worried,” he said.

“About what?” Meowth said.

“I’m worried about if I’ll be a good parent.”

“You’ll probably make a good parent,” Meowth said, massaging James’s feet. He pressed his paw into James’s finely arched soles and rubbed his slender toes.

“Maybe you’re right,” James breathed.

“You kinda already sound like you’re in labor,” Meowth said.

James moved to a more comfortable position. “Maybe I’m just hot and bothered,” he said. He lowered his eyelids, trying to look sexy. He let out a falsetto giggle. “My mother is coming tomorrow. She’d have a fit if she walked in on us right now.”

Meowth stroked James’s hair. “She knows about the kitten, right?” he asked.

“Yes, I wrote her about it,” James said.

They sat on the bed for a while.

“Did you still want to have sex?” Meowth asked.

“Yes, I’m pretty hormonal,” James said.

They closed the bedroom door.

-O-o-O-

The next day, James’s mother came. As soon as she came in, she and James hugged. She could only stay for one night. She had to go back to work the next day. She didn’t have to work, but she chose to.

James cooked dinner for everyone. He made sure to make extra food.

After dinner, he and Bethany went into his bedroom. James confessed about being worried when Bethany asked him why he wasn’t more enthusiastic.

“You’re really lucky you love Meowth,” Bethany said.

“I suppose,” James said.

“Why aren’t you excited?” Bethany asked.

“I’m just so nervous. I’m afraid I won’t be a good parent to the kitten.”

“Of course you’ll be a good parent. You may be a former Team Rocket member, but you do have parental instincts. You’ve got what a lot of people don’t have these days: a good heart. Stay true to yourself and your kitten and you’ll be fine.”

James had broken down in tears. “Oh, Mother. I wish we could’ve been this close sooner,” he cried.

Bethany hugged James.

“Now, about what you’re going to name the kitten….”

-O-o-O-

The next day, Bethany had to leave. James and Meowth waved from the porch as she drove away.

They went inside. James felt a strange movement inside of him.

“Meowth….the kitten is kicking harder,” James said.

Meowth put a paw on James’s stomach.

“Wow. The kitten is pretty active today.”

James put a hand on Meowth’s paw. It seemed as if the kitten would come out at any time.

-O-o-O-

James was well over nine weeks pregnant with the kitten.

He wasn’t showing as much as he would with a human baby, but he still felt like he was carrying a Voltorb in his shirt.

One morning, Meowth was trying to help James get up.

“It’ll be fine, Meowth. I can manage,” James said. He suddenly felt a sharp flash of pain. He doubled over, clutching his stomach.

“Are you okay?” Meowth asked.

“I think I’m in labor,” James panted.

“Stay in bed, Jimmy,” Meowth tried to sound calm.

James shifted into a sitting position and breathed deeply. A few hours later, James gave birth to a tiny Meowth kitten.

“It’s a girl,” James said.

“What’s her name?” Meowth asked. He bit off the kitten’s umbilical cord.

“Her name is Methesia,” James said.

“That’s pretty,” Meowth said. He put the placenta on a plate. He and James could make a breakfast for two out of it.

James wiped away his tears as he brought Methesia to his bosom and nursed her. He had to be strong for his kitten.

-O-o-O-

The next day, James and Meowth got married. They held the ceremony in their backyard.

James put on his white dress and wove tiny white roses into his hair. He wasn’t a virgin, but as a former member of Team Rocket, he didn’t care about rules.

James stood by the window. This was it. He was about to tie the knot with Meowth. He thought Jessiebelle had scared him away from marriage for life.

He briefly thought about how a character in a movie made a rope out of sheets tied together and climbed out of a window. He immediately banished that thought.

“I have to be strong for Meowth and Methesia,” James thought. “I can’t think about the past.”

He looked in the mirror, checking his appearance. He had something old (his dress, from one of their disguises), something new (he’d just gotten a new bottlecap), something borrowed (he’d borrowed a slip from Jessie), and something blue (his hair).

“You look just fine,” a voice said.

James turned around. “Mother!”

Bethany hugged James. “You’re going to be a beautiful bride to Meowth and a great parent to your kitten,” she said.

“Thank you, Mother,” James said, wiping away tears.

-O-o-O-

Bethany went to sit down with the other guests (Jessie and Mondo). James stood quietly, waiting for his cue. He took a deep breath.

As he walked down the aisle, he knew even though he was scared, he had to do it.

He had to be strong for the kitten and Meowth.

-O-o-O-o-O-

Moral of the story: Team Rocket members don't care about virginity and placenta makes a great romantic breakfast for you and your cat-husband.

#old fic #pokemon fanfiction #team rocket james #team rocket meowth #team rocket jessie #blueshipping #interspecies love #james x meowth #cw mpreg #cw pokephilia

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dizzy-miss-lizzieeeeee · 3 years

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Hello everyone!

This is the first fic of the year for the Month of Competition of the @insert-original-lu-sideblog-name Discord Server. I'm very excited about this one, so I hope you like this little fic and tell me what you think.

See you soon!

Tell me about the snow

[3126 words | Rated G] Read on AO3

Wind is definitely the most charismatic and cheerful of the Chain.

Among the whole group, he is the one who brings joy with his innocent jokes and enthusiastic talk about the sea, family and the next great discovery he has made while traveling with the great heroes of Hyrule. He always has an optimistic attitude and intelligent solutions to conflicts, even if they are sometimes out of the ordinary.

In short, Wind is a good boy.

That's why the rest of the group is quite surprised to see the youngest of the heroes with a frown and cheeks puffed out like a squirrel, as they all walk through the snowy meadows of Hyrule.

It's no surprise to the other heroes that they've met winter as they pass through a new portal, while finding their way back home. However, Wind prefers the Sun warming his body, the salty wind against his face, and the blue color of the sea in front of his eyes. So white and so cold? It's not for him.

The entire Chain walks through the storm, except for Wild and Twilight, who have gone ahead to find some shelter for the rest, before the storm increases.

“Don't spread out,” shouts Time, who leads the others, “the sooner we find shelter, the sooner we can rest.”

Wind can't help but grumble, hiding half of his face inside the green coat Wild has lent him, since it never occurred to him that he would have to lug around a jacket for the winter. In addition, winters on his island are not like that, if anything the wind is a little colder and not to mention going swimming since the sea water drops a few degrees. But snow? No, never. This is the worst thing that has ever happened to him. And no, he's not exaggerating, he swears.

Warriors, who is at the end of the line, just behind Wind, can't help but see the poor boy shivering with cold and muttering under his breath, and approaches him with a slightly mocking smile. "What's wrong, kid?" He asks as he ruffles his hair, causing the snow in his hair to fall onto his nose. “Does a little cold bother you?”

Wind growls as he feels the cold flakes of snow fall on his face, and he frowns at the captain. “Oh stop! This weather is the worst, I don't understand why we had to go through that portal when we were perfectly fine in the woods."

Warriors can't help but laugh out loud and pat him on the shoulder to encourage him to continue walking, even though the wind has started to blow a little stronger and that makes the tips of his ears feel numb.

"Come on kid, if you just stand there you'll freeze, any minute we'll find-”

"Hey guys!"

Everyone else stops when they see Wild come running towards them waving his arms so they can see him despite the storm, with Twilight turned into his wolf form following close behind.

"We found an abandoned cabin." Wild explains once he has reunited with the group. “It is small, but it will serve to shelter us when the storm passes.”

"And what are we waiting for?" Sky asks out loud and with a hopeful smile. "Let's go before we freeze!"

Twilight starts running in the direction of the cabin and the rest follow. Wind can hear them all feeling relieved to find shelter, but he won't feel that way until he's inside the cabin with ten coats on him to warm him from this damn cold.

The little boy can barely run through the calf-deep snow, but one way or another he hurries to get to the cabin. And the place is, well…

“What a load of garbage!”

Legend's words had never sounded so right to him.

The cabin is made of wood that appears to be filled with mold, too small to accommodate nine people inside, and one of the two windows on either side of the front door is broken.

Twilight transforms into his human form in front of his teammates and smacks Legend over the head with his hand.

"Oh, come on! It is not too bad." He says as he and Wild put their hands on their hips, proudly watching their discovery. “It just takes a little hard work and you’ll see that it’ll be as good as new.”

Four hums, bringing a hand to his chin. "We'd need to cut down a dozen trees at least, maybe remove the foundations and start from scratch-"

"We won't be around long enough to do a thorough repair." Time interrupts him. "Let's go inside now, it will serve to protect us."

Wind is the first to follow the order. As soon as Time finishes speaking, the little boy runs towards the cabin and tries to open it by moving the latch, but apparently it is stuck, so he decides to give it one, two, three pushes with his shoulder until finally the door gives way and he opens it.

It doesn't look too bad inside, Wind decides. It has a small bed in the upper right corner, and a table with three chairs against the left wall. However, what Wind likes the most is that it has its own fireplace. Oh, he can already feel the fire heating his body.

"Heh, sorry little one, I'll light the fireplace." Hyrule tells him gently as he makes his way into the cabin with the others following behind, and leans down to light the fire.

Once the flames from the fireplace begin to warm the small cabin, Wind finally relaxes, sitting near the fire with his back against the wall and watching everyone settle into a corner, on chairs or on the bed. The heat begins to make him feel comfortable and before he knows it, his eyes are closed and he's dreaming of the sound of seagulls flying overhead and a blonde girl barking at him orders to set sail for his next big discovery.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The smell of stew is what wakes Wind up.

His eyes blink, trying to adjust to the light from the flames that illuminate the room, but when he looks out the window, he realizes that it's dark and the storm has grown stronger. He thinks of all the cold snow he'll have to walk through in the morning and gets angry again, crossing his arms and trying to hide his face inside his jacket.

"Hey kid, do you want dinner?"

Wild stands before him, a bowl of stew in hand, a gentle smile in his eyes. The boy takes the stew and that's when he realizes how hungry he is. Wind practically slurps on the stew as the rest of the gang laugh softly at something they're discussing.

When Wind removes the bowl from his face he notices that everyone is sitting in a circle in the middle of the cabin, except for Time and Warriors who are standing, leaning against the wall, and Wild who is serving stew to each of them.

"Hey kid, come here, stop being so grumpy." Warriors tells him with a smile and the rest of the boys move to make room for him inside the circle, right in the middle of Four and Hyrule.

Wind gets up from the ground where he was sitting and walks over to the boys, sitting in the empty space and continuing with his stew, even thinking about asking for some more to regain his lost strength after walking all day in the snow. He continues in silence until Hyrule gives him a friendly nudge, trying to get his attention.

"Why are you so upset?" He asks with a smirk. "I haven't seen someone this upset since our beloved rabbit was in his animal form for a week."

"Hey!"

The rest laugh at the memory, but Wind sighs, lowering his plate to the floor, still frowning.

"I don't like the cold, okay?" He confesses, crossing his arms over his chest. “All this snow is too bothersome and wet. I miss the heat, I miss being in the sea.”

"Oh come on, the snow isn't that bad." Four tells him, putting his arm around his neck. "It's actually quite fun, you can create big forts to hide in."

"And why would you need to hide in a snow fort?" Wind asks him, cheeks puffed out.

"So you don't get hit by snowballs, of course!" Legend responds enthusiastically from across the circle. “Imagine, you have the enemy in your sights, they are looking for a weak spot in your fortress to hit you and suddenly… BOOM! You hit them right in the face with a huge snowball.”

Wind can't help but let out a small laugh as he listens to Legend get excited about his story.

"When it snows in Ordon," Twilight interrupts, "Ilia and I tie up a little sled at Epona and let the little ones hop in for a ride, it's fun to watch them fall on the snow as they giggle and beg for another ride."

"Malon would kill you if she finds out you used Epona like that." Time says with a half smile and crossed arms. “We at the ranch prefer to sit in front of the window watching the snowflakes fall with a cup of eggnog in our hands and a blanket covering us.”

They all turn to see Sky when he lets out a long sigh.

"That sounds very romantic." He says and the comment makes Wind roll his eyes. “In Skyloft it never snows, but the first time we saw snow on the Surface, Zelda and I were so excited that we dropped to the ground to see the snowflakes fall. We had colds for a week.”

The rest of the group laughs again at the anecdote as Wild sits between Twilight and Legend, eating his own stew. "Well, I like snowmen." He says smiling. “I recently remembered that I liked to build them with my family.”

The rest of the group congratulates him on such good news and Wind's mood is much better, he still feels a little cold but the talk, the laughter and the memories make him feel happier, enjoying the company of his friends.

“Do you see it, child? The snow isn't so bad-"

Warriors’ words are interrupted when a strong gust of wind blows open the door and ends up blowing out the fireplace where Wild's stew was cooking and makes everything turn cold and dark inside. Each of the heroes runs towards the door trying to close it, but the wind prevents them from moving forward, until Time manages to reach the door with the help of Twilight and Wild, and together they start to push it closed.

"The table, hurry!" Time orders, so Warriors, Legend, Sky and Hyrule take each side of the table and charge it until they reach the door and block it. Four and Wind also take the chairs to help make the block stronger.

Once the door is closed and locked, the boys take time to catch their breath, waiting to see if they'll need to spring back into action to lock the door. Seconds pass and nothing happens, so they finally relax.

"See? That's what I was talking about!" Wind explodes, pointing at the door with his hand. “You may have fond memories, but snow and storms are always a bad omen. We could die here without feeling the heat of the Sun again!”

Everyone falls silent, reflecting on Wind's words. What if the storm never stops? What if they get buried in the snow? What if they never return home? All those questions fly in the tense air inside the cabin that feels too cold and not precisely because of the lack of fire.

"That’s enough." The Old Man interrupts everyone's thoughts. “Sailor, you should know better than anyone that storms don't last forever. We'll be out of here soon."

Wind doesn't have time to argue how a storm at the beach isn't the same as a snowstorm, so instead of fighting, he goes back to his corner to pull his jacket over his face, this time shivering. The rest look at Warriors and Time.

"Go to sleep, tomorrow a long journey awaits us." The captain tells the rest of the boys and each one lies down on the ground, close enough to keep the warmth since the wood of the chimney is ruined by the snow that came in with the gust. However, the older ones stay awake, worried about the children's well-being, but above all, about Wind's attitude.

"We'll have to talk to him." Warriors says as he and Time sit near the door, watching.

"We'll do it in the morning, for now we have to rest."

-----------------------------------------------------------

This time, Wind wakes up with the sensation of someone moving him slowly, and when he opens his eyes he realizes that the storm has finally stopped, that the sunlight enters through the windows and that it is Time who is trying to wake him up.

"What time is it?" The little boy asks with a slight groan as he stretches and rubs his eyes to clear the weariness from his body.

"It's noon, the rest of us went hunting or looking for wood to keep us warm before leaving here." Time explains to him as he sits next to him on the floor, but not before offering him a cup of hot chocolate. Where did it come from? Wind can't tell, but he'd be a fool to reject it in this cold.

"Shouldn't we go now that the storm has stopped?" He asks as he takes a first sip of chocolate. His body immediately feels better.

"Some of the guys went to explore how far we are from the next shelter or out of this snowy area, if it's too far we may have to stay one more night to gain strength before moving on."

"It's not fair!" Wind frowns, clearly annoyed with the answer. "We should get out of this place as soon as possible."

“Is there a reason why this weather makes you so cranky?” Time asks him with his arms crossed, but ready to listen.

"I just don't like the cold, that's all."

"Link."

That the Old Man had to use his name instead of some silly nickname sends chills down his spine, and he is silent for a moment before looking down, feeling embarrassed.

“When I was a kid, Grandma used to tell my sister and me stories about the snow, the games and all that stuff you were telling last night.” He begins to explain, his hands playing with the cup of chocolate. "On my island there is never snow, that's why Aryll and I used to pretend that one day we would go out and explore the world to see snow."

Wind finally puts the cup down and looks at Time with a frown, but this time it's not anger on his face, but regret, sadness, and a bit of longing.

"But when I met snow, it wasn't with my sister, but trying to save her from Ganondorf." He explains and Time growls at the mention of their common enemy. “I had to travel far, get all kinds of artifacts and visit dozens of islands in order to save her. In one of them it was snowing, but instead of enjoying it, I couldn't stop thinking about Aryll being in danger while I fell over and over again into the freezing water trying to get some stupid boots.”

He lets out a sigh and hugs his knees, burying his face in them.

"Sorry, I know I'm not the best company right now." He says quietly, trying to hide from Time's gaze.

Time, however, moves a little closer to him and puts his arm around his shoulders, trying to comfort him, if only a little.

"You don't have to apologize for anything, if anyone understands what you went through on your journey it's, well, all of us." Time tells him with a slight smile and that makes Wind lookup, a few tears appearing in his eyes but not falling. “You have every right to not feel comfortable with this situation, but it is not good that you miss out on some experiences just because of the bad times you had in the past. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about."

Wind takes a deep breath before closing his eyes.

"What if the memories are too bad?" He asks and looks into his eyes again. “How did you erase the bad thing that happened?”

Time nudges him lightly. "Well, you don’t erase them. You just create new memories, something worth telling Aryll."

Just then, the door to the cabin opens and Warriors comes in panting, grinning from ear to ear, while the pair can tell he has snow in his hair and on his blue scarf.

"Guys, come on, you have to see this."

Wind frowns in confusion, but gets up from the ground along with Time, walking out of the cabin together. The glare of the sun on the snow blinds him for a couple of seconds until his eyes adjust, but even though his vision is restored, he can't believe what's in front of his eyes.

"Wow."

Outside the cabin everything has become a truly winter playground. For one thing, Legend and Hyrule have built a couple of forts while throwing snowballs at each other, laughing out loud. On the other hand, Four is with Twilight transformed into a wolf, while he pulls the little boy with ropes and a shield tied to his body, as if it were a sled. In the background is Wild carrying a large snowball and putting it on top of another larger ball, apparently building a snowman. And at the end, Sky is lying on the ground, his nose red from the cold, as he moves his arms and legs to form a figure on the ground.

“And what do you think about snow now, young man?” Warriors asks Wind, as the three watch the rest of the boys playing.

"Not bad, for now." Wind can't help but laugh and start jumping around, excited by all the energy in the place, not sure who to join or where to start playing.

It is then that a snowball thrown by Legend hits him in the face. A new sense of competitiveness is born in the little boy as he bends down to form his own snowball and starts chasing Legend around, throwing the snowball and causing everyone, even the adults, to join the war.

Wind is dying to get home to tell Aryll about the snow.

18 notes · View notes

stark-tony · 4 years

Text

underrated irondad and spiderson fic recs part 2

part 1

Queer Eye for the Cacti by silentsaebyeok

summary: He bought one-hundred cacti on Amazon! Pepper was going to kill him!

What had possessed him to do such a thing? He never went on shopping sprees when drunk. That just wasn’t a Tony Stark type of thing to do. And in all honesty, he was astonished he even remembered the Amazon password.

Tony makes an interesting purchase while drunk. What he doesn’t expect is for said purchase to bite him in the ass in the worst possible way.

pairings: pepperony

tags: fluff, hurt/comfort

warnings: none

Tumblr Posts by Jen27ny

summary: Literally what the title says. All the prompts and one-shots I post on tumblr.

pairings: pepperony, spideychelle

tags: hurt/comfort, fluff, angst

warnings:

It Lasts for Always by YellowDistress

summary: Peter has never asked anyone to kill for him, especially not Tony.

pairings: none

tags: angst

warnings: none

Cursed Christmas by sahiya

summary: A series of unfortunate events befalls Tony, Pepper, Peter, and Morgan (and Happy and May) in the week leading up to Christmas.

It'd be kind of funny if it didn't totally suck. Fortunately, they've got good back-up.

pairings: pepperony

tags: hurt/comfort

warnings: none

Keeping your head up by frostysunflowers

summary: It’s been a while, a long while, since Tony felt this defenceless. He’s without a suit, the manacle around his ankle is solid steel, and he can’t see a single way out.

He’s been here before, but back then there had been tools, resources, options.

Here, there’s just the walls, his missing kid and the water.

The water.

pairings: none

tags: hurt/comfort, angst

warnings: kidnapping

Young, Dumb and Suffering by wordscorrupt

summary: In a moment of desperation, Peter decides to take Steve's pain medication to relieve a migraine.

Peter accidentally overdoses on pain medication.

pairings: none

tags:

warnings:

Midnight Oil by JolinarJackson

summary: After everything that has happened to Peter over the last year - or five, really - he shouldn’t be worried about something as mundane as the ACT. When he fails it, though it sends him into a spiral of self-doubt, which only gets worse when Peter realizes that he doesn’t seem to be able to fix whatever is broken.

pairings: spideychelle, pepperony

tags: hurt/comfort, angst

warnings: none

Love Will Remind Us Who We Are by blondsak

summary: There had been many times in Tony’s life when he’d known the piercing clarity that separated a Good Day from a Bad Day. Had known the ways in which, upon first waking, one’s soul would strike a balance between agony and relief either in your favor, or not.

But none of his earlier Good and Bad times had prepared him for his reality now.

Nine months after the Avengers defeated Thanos, Tony is still reckoning with the toll the final snap took on his body. Between grueling physical therapy, near-constant pain, and the inability to so much as tie his own shoes, well-- things aren’t exactly like Tony had imagined.

Luckily for him, there’s a certain kid from Queens who won’t let Tony give up so easily.

pairings: none

tags: angst, hurt/comfort

warnings: none

Summertime Sickness by Spideysickfics

summary: "Well, this is your lucky day, then!" Peter replied enthusiastically, putting his hands on his hips and puffing out his chest as he broke into a wide grin, "You're looking at a former Boy Scout!"

Tony let out a huff of air.

"No shit, a Boy Scout, huh? When did you quit?"

"First grade." Peter's grin didn’t waver. Tony rolled his eyes with a laugh.

"I'm sure you're very knowledgeable."

An Irondad camping trip and sickfic to soothe your soul

pairings: none

tags:

warnings: none

to break in these bones by searchingforstars

summary: “We’re gonna go play baseball? I’m not exactly a great shot, and you might have to let me out of these first,” Peter rattles his wrists around in the metal chains and they clink together, echoing around the sparse room, “but sounds like fun.

“We’re not playing baseball.”

“Shame, because I passed a park on my way here and I’m pretty sure that there’s only been like, six murders there this year so that could have been a fun spot.”

“I’m going to enjoy this, you fucked up little kid.”

“Hey, I’m not a little-” Peter starts, but he’s cut off by all the air being knocked out of his lungs as he sees the bat raised in front of him.

or, Peter doesn't listen to Tony, pisses off someone dangerous and ends up on the wrong end of a baseball bat.

pairings: none

tags: angst, hurt/comfort

warnings: none

5 Times Peter Gave Tony Something by impravidus

summary: and the 1 time Tony gave him something back

pairings: none

tags: fluff

warnings: none

You'll Be Here (in My Heart) by seekrest

summary: The morning that Tony’s life changed forever began as his days usually began now — shuffling into the kitchen half asleep, going through the motions as he searched for Pepper’s favorite coffee mug.

Tony stifled a yawn, grabbing the Black Panther novelty mug she adored while he grabbed one that Morgan had made them years ago - one that made her now cringe with embarrassment anytime she saw him use it, the childish scribbles that made him laugh.

He sets Morgan’s creation down on the countertop as he reaches for the Black Panther mug, it being just barely out of reach for when Pepper has put it last.

“Damn thing.” Tony mutters to himself, fingers barely brushing against it before he grabs it - going to set it down on the counter only to be surprised when Pepper walks in from the bedroom, an unreadable expression on her face.

“Morning. You know, you and I need to have a talk about about your choice of mugs. I know T’Challa somehow perfected the cup warmer thing here but you could at least show a little—“

“Michelle’s in labor.”

pairings: spideychelle

tags: angst

warnings: none

the little things we don't say out loud by JBS_Forever

summary: “It's not funny,” Peter says, voice catching as he whines, “This is life or death, Ned. I'm actually dying.”

On the other end of the line, Ned sighs, amused and not at all concerned. “So you're Mr. Stark's secret Santa. It's not that bad.”

- - -

In which Peter is Tony's secret Santa, and it is, in fact, that bad.

pairings: none

tags: humor, fluff

warnings: none

Hiking Essentials: A backpack, plenty of water, and a Spider-kid by kiwifeather

summary: Morgan, Peter, and Tony enjoy each other's company on a hike through the woods while Peter is staying with them for the weekend. Father-and-son bonding ensues

(Takes place after the snap but Tony survives because this is the good timeline and we know that Tony deserved a happy ending)

pairings: none

tags: fluff

warnings: none

In Case of Emergency by Bowtiez

summary: Babysitting his little sister at the Stark's lakeside cabin seems like quite the gig for 17-year-old Peter. Of course he's got that covered- he's a mature individual and he can watch over a five-year-old for forty-eight hours.

On a totally unrelated note, did anyone know that super-healing doesn't really work on bacterial infections? It's a good thing Morgan knows what to do. Well... it's probably a good thing?

pairings: pepperony

tags: fluff

warnings: none

Three Times Tony Stark Used Italian Nicknames and One Time He Received One by MCUsic_to_my_ears

summary: Tony can't help but slip into his Italian when with his children.

pairings: none

tags: fluff

warnings: none

More Ancient Than Magic by ironfamjam

summary: Life isn't exactly normal when your Head of House is also kinda your father-figure and his daughter is kinda sorta your little sister.

It's also not normal when the bad guys your real-life-war-hero-not-actually-dad defeated in The Great War threaten to return and you're still just trying to finish your Charms essay.

But Professor Stark asked him to protect Morgan. And that's what he's going to do.

Even if it breaks him.

The mini Hogwarts AU

pairings: spideychelle, pepperony

tags: fluff, angst

warnings: torture

Peaches by peterparkr

summary: There’s no response, not even a faint twinge of muscle. Peter tries to listen for a heartbeat, but he can’t seem to focus enough to pinpoint it. Another bubble of thought starts to rise. This could be the reason his spidey-sense is going haywire. Tony could be—

He pushes the bubble down.

Peter and Tony find themselves stranded in the woods after an Avengers mission

pairings: none

tags: angst, hurt/comfort

warnings: none

Snowflakes by Jen27ny

summary: Tony just wants to see his kids happy - which means letting Morgan stick as many snowflakes to the window as she likes, and making Peter talk about his nightmares.

pairings: none

tags: fluff

warnings: none

I Sure Do Like Those Christmas Cookies by baloobird

summary: Tony is spending a fun afternoon baking cookies with his kids, but his older one isn't acting like himself.

Whatever the problem is, it's up to the now-retired hero to figure it out.

pairings: none

tags: fluff

warnings: bullying, acephobia

An MIT Halloween by bethy_277

summary: Coming to MIT had been difficult, having almost lost his mentor when he had snapped to save the entire universe, and Peter had really struggled. If it hadn’t been for Ned and Harley- who he had met shortly after he came back and become good friends with- he didn’t think he would have made it past the first few weeks at school. He had called both May and Tony that first week, hysterical and begging to come back to New York. May had been patient, Tony had been ready to get in his car to drive to him to help him through it, and Harley and Ned had been there and talked him down both times.

** Peter is a college student at MIT and Tony brings Morgan up for some trick-or-treating.

pairings: none

tags: fluff

warnings: none

Someone Take Me Home by GallagherHunter

summary: More than a month since May's death Peter is having a less than stellar day at school in the hopes of making it through the day so he can get to the apartment where he's been living with Tony since his world came crashing around him. Meanwhile, Tony has been advised to adopt Peter to assure him he won't leave him.

pairings: none

tags: hurt/comfort

warnings: bullying

It’s Gonna Be Lit by Pawprinter

summary: What Christmas gift does one get for the man who seemingly has everything?

Peter is struggling to find out.

pairings: none

tags: fluff

warnings: none

I'll Be Home For Christmas by snarkymuch

summary: May gets called away for work, and Tony steps in to make sure Peter isn't alone for Christmas. Harley, Morgan, and Peter being adorable kids, and Tony being a great dad.

pairings: none

tags: fluff

warnings: none

The power of makeup by SparrowFlight246

summary: Peter shows up to a prestigious awards ceremony with a black eye and a whole lot of regret.

Tony raids Pepper's purse and decides to improvise.

pairings: pepperony

tags: fluff

warnings: none

if you'll be my star, i'll be your sky by ftmpeter

summary: There are two things Tony learns about Peter after Morgan is born.

The first thing is that when it comes to kids, he's a natural.

The second thing is that he's a self-sacrificing little shit.

(Tony already knew that. He has the gray hairs to prove it. But. Still.)

It isn't the kind of self-sacrificing that will get him killed or seriously injured - thank God - but it's just as annoying. Maybe even more, because while he can ground Peter from Spider-Man, he can't exactly ground him from staying up all night to make sure Morgan sleeps through it.

pairings: none

tags: fluff

warnings: none

give the cookies a miss by searchingforstars

summary: “Surprise!” Morgan exclaims as soon as they’re both in the room. She gestures excitedly towards a few slightly sad looking lumps of something drenched in icing and severed onto sticks. There are sprinkles as well, which look like they might have been a nice touch to cheer the entire thing up, had the majority of them not ended up scattered around the surrounding bench space.

“Daddy and I made cookie pops! Well, I made them, he just helped me use the big scary whisk-y thingy. They’re for Katie’s birthday party tomorrow because we all have to bring something yummy to eat, and Daddy wanted to do regular cookies but I told him that was boring. So we made these instead!”

or, Peter is poisoned by the ones he trusts most.

pairings: none

tags: fluff, hurt/comfort

warnings: none

i want to be with you 'til the whole world ends by searchingforstars

summary: The last thing he does as his eyes slip shut is wrap his arms tighter around Peter, as tight as he can manage when it feels like the life is draining from him.

Please, for the love of God, I'm sorry I couldn't do it, but please, please, someone look after this kid for me.

Tony would give anything to make sure that Peter Parker is safe.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t have much left to give. He’s about to have nothing left to give.

The world goes dark.

He drifts away.

Or, Peter and Tony nearly lose each other.

pairings: none

tags: angst

warnings: none

Of bright autumn days and things that go bump in the night by frostysunflowers

summary: Halloween/fall themed fics featuring plenty of fluff, feels and seasonal shenanigans!

pairings: none

tags: fluff, humor, angst

warnings: none

Twelve Days of Terror: A Whumptober Collection by seekrest

summary:

pairings: spideychelle

tags:

warnings:

#irondad and spiderson #irondad #peter parker #tony stark #my fic recs #kidnapping tw #torture tw #acephobia tw #bullying tw

106 notes · View notes

bechloeislegit · 3 years

Text

Save a Horse, Ride a Cowgirl - Chapter 2

"Yes, I do," the guy said. "You're Beca Mitchell. I've seen your picture in magazines and on TMZ. And I hear your songs on the radio all the time."

"This is Jesse Swanson," Jessica said by way of introduction. "And that guy over there is Bumper Allen." Bumper gave a small wave and Jessica leaned toward Stacie and whispered conspiratorially, "He's married to Fat Amy. You'll meet her later, I'm sure."

"I'm not married," Jesse said with a boyish grin as he reached out to shake their hands. "In case you were wondering."

"I wasn't," Beca said, ignoring Jesse's outstretched hand.

"Be nice, Beca," Stacie whispered as she reached out to shake Jesse's hand. "I'm Stacie Conrad, Beca's manager."

"It's a pleasure meeting you both," Jesse said.

"Hey, Bummppperrrr!" a voice called out, causing everyone to look in the direction of the woman who yelled.

"Get over here, you sexy beast," Bumper said, ogling the woman.

The woman stopped next to Bumper. She looked first at Beca and then moved her gaze over to Stacie.

"I know the short stack is Beca Mitchell, but who's the tall stack next to her?"

Beca scoffed and Stacie laughed.

"I'm Stacie Conrad," Stacie said. "Beca's manager."

"Ladies, this is my wife, Fat Amy," Bumper said, pulling Amy into his side. "The best woman in all of Colorado."

"He calls his wife Fat Amy?" Stacie whispered to Beca.

Jessica heard her and leaned in to whisper, "She calls herself that so skinny bitches don't say it behind her back."

Beca and Stacie looked at each other and chuckled. Suddenly, Chloe squealed and ran over to a blonde woman coming toward them.

"Wow!" Stacie exclaimed under her breath. "Who is that?"

Jessica and Beca both turned to look. "That's Aubrey, our cook."

Chloe grabbed Aubrey and pulled her into a hug.

"Oh, my God, Brey!" Chloe said, her voice carrying in her excitement. "Beca Mitchell is actually here!"

Beca couldn't help the smile that came to her face.

"I can see that," Aubrey said.

"I mean, it's really her! I can't believe she's standing right there."

Aubrey just smiled at Chloe as they walked over to the small group.

"Hello, everyone," Aubrey said.

"Well, hello," Stacie said, looking Aubrey up and down.

"Down, girl," Beca murmured so only Stacie could hear her.

"Beca Mitchell, Stacie Conrad," Jessica said. "This is Aubrey Posen, the cook who is responsible for the spread we have tonight. And all the food you'll be enjoying during your stay with us."

Chloe grinned as she leaned in and told Aubrey, "I'm giving THE Beca Mitchell riding lessons tomorrow."

"Chloe," Aubrey said. "What did I tell you about fangirling?"

"That's okay," Beca said, smiling. "I'm always happy to meet a fan."

Chloe smiled and looked at Beca.

"See?" Chloe said. "Beca doesn't mind if I'm a little enthusiastic when it comes to seeing her in person."

"Enthusiastic?" Beca snorted. "Now you remind me of someone I used to know."

"I do?" Chloe asked. "It's funny because you always reminded me of someone I used to know, too. I read you were from Seattle; do you have family in Atlanta?"

"I did," Beca said. "May I ask who I remind you of?"

"My best friend from when I was a kid," Chloe said.

"That's funny because you remind me of my best friend from when I was a kid."

"I do?" Chloe said.

"Yes, you do," Beca said, smiling. "May I ask if your friend's name is Rebeca Cooke?"

"How do you know. . ." Chloe started to say and stopped to stare at Beca.

Beca stood there as Chloe studied her face, and looked her up and down. Beca smiled, and Chloe's gaze traveled back up to stare into Beca's eyes.

"Are you? No-oo, you can't be. I mean, I know it's been about sixteen years, but I always thought I'd recognize her if I ever saw her again."

No one said anything; they just watched to see what Chloe or Beca was going to do next.

Chloe seemed to be at a loss for words as she continued to examine Beca's face. "Your eyes look . . .are you Rebeca Cooke?"

"Yes, I am," Beca said, smiling and nodding her head.

"But, your last name is Mitchell," Chloe said, frowning. "I never read anything that said you were, but are you married?"

"No," Beca said, laughing. "I legally changed my name when I turned thirteen. But, I swear, I was born Rebeca Cooke and I'm still the same girl who was your best friend when we were nine. If you don't believe me, I can show you pictures of me with you."

"Oh, my God!" Chloe squealed and pulled Beca into a hug. "I can't believe this. I always wondered what happened to you."

Beca pulled back from the hug only to have Chloe smack her on the arm.

"Ow!" Beca yelped and rubbed her arm.

"What the hell, Rebeca," Chloe exclaimed. "I'm sorry, I mean, Beca. You promised I'd see you again in three months, not sixteen years later. What the hell?"

"Calm down," Beca said, still rubbing her arm. "I can explain everything, I promise."

"I don't know if I believe you," Chloe said, crossing her arms over her chest. "You broke the last promise you made to me."

"It wasn't my fault," Beca said. "I really wanted to come back to Atlanta, but my grandma died, and. . ."

"Your grandmother died?" Chloe said as tears came to her eyes.

"Please don't cry," Beca said, as she pulled Chloe into a hug and rubbed a hand over her back.

"Chloe's a very emotional person," Aubrey said.

"I know," Beca said, pulling back from Chloe. "I always hated it when she cried."

"That's true," Chloe said, wiping her eyes. "She did. And she was always the first to try and comfort me."

"You remember that?" Beca asked.

"Hey, Aubrey," Jesse called out.

Aubrey looked up to see Jesse waving her over to the grill.

"Would you all excuse me?" Aubrey said. "Duty calls."

"Looks like it's almost time to eat," Jessica said. "I'm going to go pull Chicago away from his office. If I wait for him to come out, we'll never see him."

Jessica left Stacie, Beca, and Chloe standing together.

"Beca, do you want to sit together at dinner so we can talk and you can tell me why I haven't seen or heard from you until now?" Chloe asked.

"I'd love to," Beca said. "I do want to tell you everything. And I want to hear everything you've been doing for the past sixteen years as well."

~~ Save a Horse, Ride a Cowgirl ~~

"Chloe, can you come and help me?" Aubrey called out.

"Excuse me," Chloe said. "I'll be right back."

Chloe walked over to Aubrey; Beca watched as they started arranging things on a table.

"I'm surprised you didn't tell Chloe that you knew her earlier," Stacie said she and Beca were alone.

"I was going to, but I didn't want to scare her off," Beca said. "That's the real reason I asked to speak with her in my cabin. But, when she was standing in front of me one-on-one, I chickened out and asked about riding lessons instead."

"I thought you weren't going to get on one of those beasts," Stacie said.

"I wasn't," Beca said. "And I may not, but Chloe made it sound so appealing I couldn't help myself."

"Oh, my God!" Stacie exclaimed. "It just hit me, she is the girl you were talking about when you told me about when you knew you were gay." Beca slowly nodded her head and Stacie added, "I can see it. If I wasn't already into girls, too, she could easily change my mind."

"I know it's weird," Beca said. "But I swear I was sort of in love with her before I even understood what being gay or in love really meant. And seeing her now makes me feel all sorts of things I probably shouldn't be feeling."

"You should tell her," Stacie said.

"I don't know," Beca said. "She may not appreciate knowing she's the reason I realized I was gay."

"I think Chloe's a little bit gay herself and will take it well," Stacie said, grabbing Beca's arm and leading her towards the food tables. "Looks like dinner's ready. I'm starving; let's go fix a plate."

~~ Save a Horse, Ride a Cowgirl ~~

Stacie and Beca took their plates over to a table already occupied by Jessica, Chicago, and Tom.

"Mind if we sit with you guys?" Beca asked. "Or is it frowned upon for guests to sit with the staff?"

"No rules against it," Jessica said. "We actually encourage everyone to mingle. Please have a seat."

"Thank you," Stacie said and sat next to Tom; Beca took the seat on Stacie's left.

After a moment, they were joined by Chloe, Aubrey, and Jesse. Jesse pushed past Chloe, and much to Chloe's chagrin sat on the end next to Beca.

"Do you mind if we switch?" Beca asked Jesse. "It's just that I'm left-handed and don't want to keep bumping arms while we eat."

"Sure, no problem," Jesse said, standing to allow Beca to move to the end.

"Thanks," Beca said.

Chloe sat down at the table so she was across from Beca. She frowned slightly when Jesse started talking to Beca and was monopolizing her attention. She had really hoped she'd be able to talk to Beca and catch up while they ate.

"So, Chloe," Stacie said, looking at her. "Can you tell me any stories about Beca from when you two were younger?"

This caused Beca to look wide-eyed at Stacie and then at Chloe, shaking her head.

"No," Beca said, using her eyes to implore Chloe to keep quiet. "No stories from when Beca was younger."

"Why not?" Chloe questioned. "I have a few I think Stacie would love to hear."

"No," Beca said. "I was way too shy and awkward back then."

"Back then?" Stacie repeated, laughing at the look on Beca's face.

The others at the table laughed as well.

"I need a drink," Beca said, standing suddenly.

"You'd better not have smuggled anything in," Stacie said. "If you did, you know what that means for you."

"God, Stacie!" Beca admonished. "It's bad enough the tabloids are always riding my ass, I don't need you riding it, too."

Everyone stopped talking and stared at Beca. She took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair.

"I'm sorry," Beca said, looking around the table at everyone staring at her. "It's been a rough few months and I'd like to forget about most of it."

"I don't think you have anything to apologize for," Tom said. "It can't be easy having everyone all up in your business all the time."

"It isn't," Beca said, looking around the table once more. "I'm going to get some water."

"That's okay, Beca," Jessica said, standing. "You're a guest. I'll get it."

"Please sit back down, Jessica," Beca said. "I'm more than capable of getting myself some water. And, since I'm up, who else wants a drink?"

"Thank you, Beca," Jessica said, taking her seat. "I'd like water, please."

"I'd like some iced tea," Chloe said, smiling at Beca. "If you don't mind."

"I don't mind at all," Beca said, smiling at Chloe. "Anyone else?"

"A Coke for me, please," Tom said.

"I would like a Diet Coke if they have it," Stacie said.

"You can get your own," Beca shot back at Stacie. "And, yes, I am that petty."

With that, Beca flipped her hair over her shoulder and flounced off. Several of the group chuckled and looked at Stacie.

"Meh," Stacie said with a flip of her hand. "She loves me."

Chloe watched Beca walk away, biting her lip. Stacie caught her looking and smiled.

"See something you like, Chloe?" Stacie whispered across the table.

"Hmm?" Chloe said, turning to look at Stacie. "What?"

"She asked if you saw something you liked," Aubrey said, laughing from her seat next to Chloe.

"I'm not the only one who was looking at her," Chloe said, glaring at Jesse.

Jesse's head shot around as he said, "I, uh, wasn't looking at Beca. I was checking to see if, um, Bumper needed my help at the grill."

"Sure, you were," Chicago said, causing everyone to laugh as Jesse's cheeks became red.

"I was," Jesse said adamantly. He looked over at Beca and stood up. "I'm going to see if she needs any help."

"I'll go, too," Chloe said, jumping up to follow Jesse.

"Looks like Chloe and Jesse are both interested in Beca," Tom said, watching Chloe and Jesse made their way to Beca.

He chuckled when Chloe hurried past Jesse, causing Jesse to stumble and fall.

"My money is on Chloe in that fight," Jessica said.

"I don't know," Chicago said. "Jesse's got some game and can be rather charming when he wants to be."

"It won't matter how much game he has," Stacie said, chuckling. "He has one thing that Chloe doesn't have, and that's the one thing Beca's not interested in."

"What's that?" Tom asked, looking at Stacie.

"You really don't know?" Stacie asked, surprised.

"Beca's gay, Tom," Aubrey said. "It's kind of a well-known fact in the music industry."

"Oh," Tom and Chicago said.

"I don't really follow Beca's music," Tom said. "I'm more of a country music fan."

Beca heard a sound and turned to see Jesse on the ground; Chloe joined her.

"Are you okay?" Beca asked, looking down at Jesse.

"I'm fine," Jesse said, picking himself up and brushing the grass off his jeans.

"We came to see if you needed any help," Chloe said, and leaned in to whisper, "He's just clumsy."

Jesse glared at Chloe when Beca turned her back to him to look at Chloe.

"Thank you, I'd appreciate some help," Beca said, reaching into a cooler to pull out a Diet Coke.

Jesse looked at her with a raised brow. "I thought you told Stacie she could get her own."

"I did," Beca said, shrugging. "And she knows I'll bring her one anyway. I give her a hard time, but at the end of the day, she is still one of my best friends and we'd do anything for each other."

Beca handed Jesse the Diet Coke and Coke; she then gave Chloe a bottle of water. Beca carried the iced tea and second bottle of water to the table.

Jesse handed Stacie and Tom their drinks while Chloe handed the bottle she was carrying to Jessica.

"Thank you," each said as they took their drinks.

"You're welcome, Jessica," Chloe said as she sat down.

Beca set her water at her seat and walked around the table to Chloe. She leaned slightly over Chloe's shoulder and set down the iced tea.

"I believe this is yours," Beca said softly in Chloe's ear.

"Thank you, Beca," Chloe said, smirking at a glaring Jesse.

~~ Save a Horse, Ride a Cowgirl ~~

Later, everyone was done eating, and the ranch staff had left to help put the leftover food away and break down the tables. Stacie excused herself to make a call, leaving Beca and Chloe alone at the table.

Jesse was helping Bumper clean up the grill; he kept looking over at Beca, smiling when he saw her glance over at him.

"So, let me see if I understand this," Beca said to Chloe. "You were sixteen when your parents were killed? Then you came here to live with your uncle, who is your mother's brother and Chicago's father? And your uncle agreed to pay for you to go to college and veterinary school, with the condition that you'd work for him on the ranch to help pay for it?"

"That's right," Chloe said. "My folks' life insurance policy barely covered their funerals, so it was the only way I would be able to go to college. My first job was giving riding lessons to the guests and helping out wherever there was a need. Then I moved up to being the vet tech while I went to vet school."

"Wow," Beca said. "Beauty and brains. Will you remain here or find something else, once you're finished school?"

"I already graduated," Chloe said. "And I promised Uncle Denny that I'd give him one year of my time as a vet after I graduated. My year is up this month. Chicago and Uncle Denny have both tried to persuade me to stay. But, I got an offer for my dream job, and will be leaving here soon."

"What's your dream job?" Beca asked.

Chloe opened her mouth to respond, but Jesse interrupted before she had a chance.

"Hey, Beca, I was wondering if you'd like to take a walk with me?"

"I'm sorry, Jesse," Beca said. "Chloe and I are talking. Maybe some other time."

"I'll hold you to that," Jesse said, throwing a smirk at Chloe. "I'll leave you two to continue your conversation."

Jesse put his arm around Beca's shoulder, pulling her to him in an awkward side hug.

"Dude, no," Beca huffed, shrugging him off. "It's not going to be like that."

"Why not?" Jesse whined. "I'm a good guy. Just give me a chance."

"Jesse, she's gay," Chloe said, causing Jesse's face to fall.

"No, she isn't," Jesse said, looking down at Beca. "Are you?"

"Yeah, I am," Beca said. "Sorry, dude, but you and I are not going to happen."

"See? Told you," Chloe said. "Now, if you don't mind, we were in the middle of something."

"Sorry," Jesse mumbled and walked off.

"How does he not know?" Beca asked, truly perplexed. "I mean, it's not like I hide it."

"I don't know," Chloe said with a sigh. "Don't be too hard on him. Jesse's actually a pretty good guy, but living out here on the ranch, everyone is busy all the time, so they don't get a chance to be up to date on all the entertainment-type news."

"Now I kind of feel bad about rejecting him," Beca said. She sat for a moment, staring down at the table. She looked up at Chloe. "How do you know so much about me?"

"I first heard you sing when I was in college. I loved your voice and your music so I started following you on all the social media sites. I love how you personally interact with your fans."

"Oh, okay," Beca said. "So, I guess you know about my dad?"

"Honestly, I really haven't heard a lot about him," Chloe said. "But, I do remember him from Atlanta. We were all surprised when we saw Sheila had moved into your old house with him."

"He promised he was going to come to Seattle to be with me and my mom," Beca said sadly. "He never even visited or called me. He found me about six months ago and I thought he wanted to make amends for ignoring me, but all he wanted was money."

There was a momentary silence between them. Chloe watched Beca and saw that she looked sad.

"So, I'm moving to LA," Chloe said, excitedly. "It's been my dream to be a vet to the stars ever since I decided I wanted to be a vet."

"Seriously?" Beca asked, her mood brightening.

"Yep," Chloe said.

"That is so cool," Beca said. "Maybe we can hang out and I can show you the sights and all the best places to eat. And if you need to find a place to live, I can hook you up with my realtor. He'll do right by you, I promise."

"That's really sweet of you to offer, Beca," Chloe said. "I may take you up on that."

"Better yet," Beca said. "If you need a place to stay while you look for something, I have plenty of room. You're welcome to stay with me for as long as it takes."

"That plan sounds more fun," Chloe said, smiling at Beca. "I've been looking online for a place, but so far I haven't had any luck. Either everything is way too expensive or too far away from the vet clinic. If I can stay with you, I can look at places in person to find one that will be close to work and that I can afford. I may need to stay a few weeks while I look; are you okay with that?"

"A few weeks, a few months, I don't care," Beca said. "You can stay for as long as you want."

Chloe squealed and moved around to hug Beca. "Thank you so much. When do you plan to head back to LA? I was planning on leaving next week, but I can change that and leave when you do."

"Well, I'm kind of stuck here for three weeks," Beca said. "So, if you want to wait to leave when we do, you can fly back with us on our jet."

"That sounds so cool," Chloe said. "And I'm all for extra time to be around my family. I'm going to miss them so much."

"Then, consider it done," Beca said. "We'll talk more later to work everything out, okay?"

"Okay," Chloe said, smiling. "Now, I'd say it was your turn to tell me what you've been doing for the past sixteen years, but I kind of already know. At least for the last six years anyway. I did have one question if you don't mind me asking."

"Ask me and if I don't want to answer, I'll let you know," Beca said. "Okay?"

"Fair enough," Chloe said. "When and why did you change your name?"

Beca chuckled and shifted in her seat.

"First, you know I never liked the name Rebeca," Beca said. "When I left Atlanta I started telling people my name was Beca because I liked that better than Rebeca. Then after my folks divorced, my mom went back to her maiden name. I was only twelve but decided that since my dad wasn't a part of my life anymore I wanted to change my last name to Mitchell as well. I always felt like I had been more of a Mitchell than a Cooke anyway. My mom wanted me to be sure so she made me wait a year until I was thirteen before she'd agree to let me become Beca Mitchell. So I completed all the paperwork and as soon as I turned thirteen, she gave me permission to do it, so I have been legally Beca Mitchell for twelve years now."

"Funny," Chloe said, chuckling softly. "Having known you as Rebeca and now as Beca, I'd have to agree you are definitely more of a Beca than a Rebeca."

"I agree," Stacie said, having overheard the last part of their conversation. Stacie sat at the table as she continued speaking. "I met Beca just after her name change. When I found out that Beca used to be Rebeca, it didn't fit her at all, in my opinion."

"So, how did you two meet?" Chloe asked, looking from Stacie to Beca.

"I sometimes feel like we've known each other forever," Stacie said.

"It was in Middle School. Eighth grade, right?" Beca asked, looking at Stacie for confirmation.

"That's right," Stacie said. "I had almost all the same classes with Beca, and we hit it off right from the start. It might have had something to do with the fact we were both already out as gay and bi."

"That's true," Beca said, nodding her head. "I came out to my mom about the same time as my name change. Once I met CR and Stacie, they helped me through a lot."

"Who is CR?"

"Our other best friend," Stacie said. "She's also Beca's publicist. So we're not just friends; we all work together, too. We three have been through a lot together."

"Yes, we have," Beca said, nodding in agreement. She chuckled as she added, "I can be quite the handful."

"You do keep us on our toes," Stacie said, causing Beca and Chloe to chuckle.

"Did you two ever date?" Chloe asked, looking back and forth at the two.

"What?" Beca said. "No. I'd never date Stacie; she's not my type." She turned to look at Stacie, adding, "No offense."

"None taken," Stacie said. "You are not my type either."

"Well, I think it's great that you are still friends and work together, too," Chloe said. Her smile fell as she added, "I feel like I've missed out on so much from losing touch with Beca. I really missed you when you didn't come back. There's not a day that has gone by that I haven't thought about you."

"Don't let it get you down, Chloe," Beca said, reaching to place her hand over Chloe's. "We were destined to find each other again. How else can you explain both of us being in this place at this time?"

"You're right; it is destiny," Chloe said, perking up slightly. "And I, for one, am glad we're in this place at this time together."

"Hear, hear!" Beca said.

~~ Save a Horse, Ride a Cowgirl ~~

Later that evening, Stacie had gone back to her cabin; Beca and Chloe were still sitting at the table, talking.

"I'm really sorry to hear about your parents," Beca said. "They were always so nice to me."

"Thank you," Chloe said. "I miss them so much. I'm glad I had Uncle Denny and Chicago to help me get through everything."

Chloe looked sad, and Beca took a deep breath and let it out.

"So, I, um, have something to confess to you," Beca said, looking down at the table and playing with her hands.

"What is it?" Chloe asked, reaching over to place her hand on Beca's to still them.

"I've kind of had a crush on you since we were nine years old," Beca said, blushing. "And you're the reason I realized I was gay."

Chloe smiled and squeezed Beca's hand. "I had a crush on you when you were Rebeca Cooke," Chloe said. "I loved you as my best friend and, as time went on, I hoped to find you one day so we might become something more. And I was in college when I fell for Beca Mitchell; I can't believe I didn't recognize that you were the same girl I couldn't forget. When I first heard you singing on the radio, I fell in love with your voice, and then when I saw you on one of the talk shows, I fell for your badass attitude and quick wit."

Beca blushed at all that Chloe said. She started rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

"It's getting a little chilly," Beca said.

"Let's go inside," Chloe said, standing from the table.

"We can go to my cabin if you want," Beca said, standing as well. "I'd like to continue talking to you if that's okay with you?"

"I'd like that," Chloe said. "I'll go to the kitchen and get us something to drink and meet you there in like ten minutes."

"Okay," Beca said. "Um, would you mind bringing me a brownie if there are any left?"

"I don't mind at all," Chloe said.

The two separated, and Chloe went to the main building while Beca went to her cabin.

~~ Save a Horse, Ride a Cowgirl ~~

"Hey, Brey," Chloe said as she entered the kitchen. "Were there any brownies left from dinner?"

"How many do you want?" Aubrey asked.

"Can we get four? And two bottles of water."

"Four brownies?" Aubrey asked with a raised brow. "And, we?"

"They're for Beca and me," Chloe said. "We're going to her cabin to continue talking, and she wanted a snack."

"Oh, do tell," Aubrey said, grabbing Chloe by the arm and sitting her down at the counter.

"Beca and I were talking outside," Chloe said. "Beca was getting cold, so she asked if we could continue our conversation in her cabin."

"What else will you be doing in Beca's cabin?" Aubrey asked, working her eyebrows up and down. "I mean, besides talking."

"Stop it, Brey," Chloe said, giggling. "We're just going to talk, that's all."

"That's all?" Aubrey said, moving to get the brownies and water for Chloe. "Are you sure you should have this much sugar and chocolate this late? You'll both be on a sugar high, and there's no telling what else you might get up to."

"I'm an adult," Chloe said, taking the brownies and water Aubrey was holding out to her. "If we get up to something else, that's nobody's business but ours."

Chloe turned and flounced toward the door.

"Thanks for the brownies," she called over her shoulder.

"Use protection," Aubrey yelled back.

#bechloe fanfiction #beca mitchell #chloe beale

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tobelovedbyjohnbridgens · 3 years

Text

July 1845: Aurora Borealis

After some twenty years in the Navy, Henry has not been surprised by anything he's seen at sea for about a decade, until a fateful Middle Watch, early on the expedition.

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After some twenty years in the Navy, Henry had stopped being surprised by what he saw about a decade ago. Not that he didn’t enjoy new sights, far from it; he was always delighted to discover parts of the world, but after three crossings of the Atlantic and then some, he was able to keep his breath and remain grounded upon seeing something that had other sailors frozen in wonder.

A decade, until now. They had just passed the tip of Greenland and Henry, while on a very unfortunate Middle Watch on the main deck, witnessed something that did steal his breath.

The ink of the sky suddenly came alive with what looked like clouds, though much longer, less opaque, and almost like they were dragged up, leaving a trail of light—and the colour! They were mostly green, but Henry could see some purple and blue mixed in as well, shifting and changing with their slow movements in the dark. He could not take his eyes away.

The name of this phenomenon was on the tip of his tongue. He had read about it, he was sure. Some Arctic explorer’s memoir, read in preparation for this trip, but he could not recall. Oh, how easy it would have been to simply turn to John and ask him. It was strange, to be so far apart yet so close, just a mile or so of water between them—impossible to cross without a good reason for it, for non-commissioned officers like himself, at least.

Maybe that was his ticket across. Sir John Franklin invited Captain Crozier to dinner on Erebus so often that they had to come up with a flag signal instead of constantly sending some boys, who always ended up completely drenched, to and from each ship to carry invitations and replies. But they still needed rowers for the Captain and Lieutenants. If he could volunteer to take Captain Crozier across, he’d get to spend the evening on Erebus. Maybe he’d be able to catch John between two courses. He didn’t need to talk to him for very long—they couldn’t, of course, but just enough to ask him about what he had seen in the sky. Yes. That was his plan. Henry tilted his head back and kept staring at the swirls of colour, a small smile on his lips, until they disappeared in the rising light of the early morning—the end of his watch.

What are the lights called? What are they called? John would know.

~~~

Much like the Erebus bearers of invitations, Henry ended up drenched and burning-armed. Though neither of these things was able to put a damper on his enthusiasm at the possibility of talking to John—no matter how busy he could be during dinner. Henry found a seat in the mess hall which allowed him to keep an eye on the great cabin. When he saw John emerge from it, empty-handed, meaning the officers had been served and would be eating for some time, Henry excused himself from his table.

Henry was surprised again to experience something that hadn’t occurred in a long time, not unlike his wonder at his sighting of the green dancing lights—he felt a kind of worry, a nervousness, while approaching John. It would be the first time they saw each other since their departure from Greenhithe last May—not the longest time they’d been apart, but Henry put his nervousness on account of having to make sure to keep their interactions inconspicuous while they served together on the expedition. The last time that happened was some nine years ago, on Beagle, and even then, that was before becoming more than simply friends. But Henry took a breath, and kept going forward.

“John!” he called.

John, who currently had his eyes closed and his back against the wall next to the great cabin door, immediately perked up at the sound of Henry’s voice. The smile he gave him was enough to melt all nerves away. John took the few remaining steps between them, though kept a reasonable distance.

“Henry, what a wonderful surprise to see you aboard,” John greeted. “I must ask, how did you manage such a feat?”

Henry shrugged, but his smile quickly turned to a grin. “Captain Crozier and his officers have dinner with Sir John often enough, I figured one of the usual rowers wouldn’t mind getting a break. I just had to volunteer.”

“Rowing! How are your arms?” John gently set a gloved hand on Henry’s bicep.

“Not too bad.” Henry rolled his shoulders a few times. “Better than when I started working up in the rigging. D’you remember that?”

John let out a low laugh. “Quite. Had I known you less at the time, I would have thought you were trying to get out of your writing lessons the way you complained about sore arms and not being able to hold a pen.”

Henry almost reached forward to sink his head on John’s shoulder and join in with his laughter, but held back. He let his smile widen instead, relishing in the simple contact of John’s hand on his arm. John scanned the area around him to make sure he was not needed right this moment.

“Though I doubt you came all this way to reminisce about the past,” John said, tilting his head to the side inquisitively.

“Other than for the pleasure of your company?” Henry noticed the blush spreading on John’s cheeks, and felt the way the hand on his arm tightened just a bit. “There was something I wanted to ask you, in fact.”

“Oh?”

“I was on Middle Watch—”

“Middle Watch? Christ, that’s dreadful.”

Henry snorted. “Yes, it tends to be quite awful, but I saw something in the sky—I was very much transfixed, but couldn’t remember how what I witnessed was called. I figured I’d come and ask you.”

In the low light of the deck, John’s eyes sparkled as he widened them. Henry knew that as a steward, John did not have much opportunity to go on the main deck, especially not between midnight and four in the morning. “What did you see?”

Henry pressed his left hand over his heart, and fiddled with the buttons of his sleeve with his right.

“Lights! Trails of lights all over the sky—green, blue, and purple. They didn’t look like clouds, they were translucent, almost. And they moved in such a fascinating manner! Does it sound like anything you know?”

“I believe it was an aurora borealis,” John replied, his smile warm. “It seems we’re up north enough for us to be able to see them.”

Aurora borealis. Henry sounded out the two words in his head, then visualized printing each letter down on paper. He’d have to make sure to take note of it in his diary. The hand he had placed on his chest moved to the side just a bit—to briefly touch the fabric of the glove John was wearing.

“You really know everything.” Henry looped his fingers around John’s index. “Th—”

“Bridgens!” Hoar exited the great cabin, having stayed behind while John was out to keep the officers’ glasses full. John and Henry instinctively broke apart at the sound of his voice. “We’re about to start on the next course, better get in here.”

“Of course, Mr. Hoar.”

John gave Henry an apologetic smile before turning away from him and following Hoar down the mess hall to the kitchen. Henry watched him, before returning to his previous seat, where John Hartnell, his brother Tom, and William Orren were discussing with passion whether or not their tinned food was any good. Henry joined in—At least we have tins; when I was on the Marquis Camden in ’28, we were lucky to have anything other than ship’s biscuits!

~~~

Just as they were set to depart, dinner wrapping up in the great cabin, John passed by Henry’s table and set a book down next to him. Henry looked at it, at John’s hand, still gloved, then up to John’s face.

“Oh—I wouldn’t want to risk damaging it, John.”

“Hush, you,” John reassured. “Books are meant to be read and worn down. And they’re mine; I do with them as I please. Will you take it?”

With a great smile—which John returned—, Henry nodded enthusiastically. John patted his shoulder and walked down the mess hall, leaving the first volume of Herodotus’ Histories on the table. Already, Henry could tell John had left him a note in-between the pages.

When he was dressing to get back on the small ship, he tucked the book in his breeches, under his guernsey, waistcoat, coat and slops to give it the best protection he could. Rowing back to Terror, the sun having set some hours ago, the sky was alight with auroras. A book pressed against his stomach, a breathtaking sight above him, and the memory of John’s hand on his arm, of having seen John at all—Henry could hardly complain.

#henry peglar #john bridgens #bridglar #bridgens x peglar #the terror #i've said it before and i'll say it again: i don't care what dimmons wrote in his book #john and henry didn't 'break it off' after a few months they've been in love for YEARS #14 to be exact. because i write them in love since the first year they met on hms beagle in 1831 #okay okay i've rambled enough!!!! please enjoy #my writing

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pagingevilspawn · 4 years

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Would you please write a fic about alex and jo help their daughter with her homework, they would be kinds cute help them study

cross my heart, hope to die, please stick this pencil in my eye

there’s a reason this took me forever. reason number one, two, and three; proofs. i was unable to write this because of proofs. i got this ask and LIKE A CHILD decided that i wanted to make my fictional characters suffer as much as i did. so once i was done with proofs, i had to write something about proofs, which made me exhausted because i hate even talking about proofs

that made no sense, but here’s this thing that i made. lots of it was my real life monologue, screaming at my computer bc of fucking proofs. enjoy. (also, let’s appreciate the fact that i updated three whole days in a row)

(also, another installment of the “payton loves evan peters too much” series, where i name jolex babies after his AHS characters)

Alex Karev sat in the drivers side of his SUV, making a right onto the upcoming street as he listened to the song playing on the radio. He drummed his fingers along the steering wheel absentmindedly, pulling up to the curbside of James Madison Middle School, waiting patiently in his seat until he heard the five minute warning bell ring.

When the loud bell goes off, he exits the car and makes his way to the other side, learning against the door so his kids would know it was him. Too many parent’s owned black range rovers, and the last thing Alex needed was for either one of his kids to climb into the back seat of some stranger's car.

He didn’t need to wait long for children to start piling out of the school in large crowds. Middle school was so different from elementary, for his kids at least. He remembers when they would come sprinting out of the building as if their lives depended on it, but now they just casually strolled, no matter how much they liked or disliked school.

A few minutes later he catches sight of his daughter, who’s eyes light up when she sees him. He wasn’t supposed to pick them up today, the nanny was. But he had gotten off of work early and had insisted with Jo that he be the one to pick up the kids. It was a task he wished he got to do more often.

“Hey.” his daughter greets him with a smile on her face. He steps aside and lets her enter the side door, where she flops her black backpack on the floor and settles into the seat, pulling out her phone and begins to start scrolling through it.

“Dad!” he hears another voice exclaim, quickly tracing it to his son, who was currently running to the car, backpack bouncing up and down behind him. The sixth grader moved across the property quickly, greeting his dad with a fist bump before sliding into the back seat.

He closes both of his kids doors before making his way into the driver's side, revving up the car’s engine before he drives down the long block, whatever music his daughter decided on playing through the radio.

Alex winces when the music begins to blare through the car, “Brynn, turn that crap down would you?”

Brynn’s face looks scandalized. “It’s not crap. It’s art.” she emphasizes, turning it up even louder and screaming the words. (Poor Brynn couldn’t sing, and she knew it)

“I came in like a wreeckingggg ballll I never hit so harddd in loveeee all i wanted was to break your walls all you ever did wre-e-e-ck meee.” she yells, using her phone as a microphone, hair flying around wildly as she moved up and down, side to side in her seat.

Alex rolls his eyes, unable to hide the smile on his lips. His wife and daughter were too much alike sometimes. He turns the knob himself, sending his daughter a look, silently telling her not to do it again.

“I think it’s crap. Just like how I think you sound like a dying cat whenever you sing.” his son pipes in from the back, a signature Karev smirk plastered on his lips as he keeps his gaze locked on his phone.

“Shut up Rory,” she sneers, “Nobody likes you.”

Rory fakes a laugh, looking back to his phone, and then to the scenery outside his window. They passed house after house until they finally reached their destination, John Quincy Adams Elementary School.

“Wait here,” Alex instructs the two kids, who murmurs their we know’s, more focused on the devices in their hand to the words coming out of his mouth.

He makes his way to the ‘log cabin’ that sat at the front of the school, giving a friendly smile to the woman sitting at the sign out table, a crappy fold out plastic table that had definitely seen better days. “Faye and Bridgette Karev.”

The woman slides the forms across the table, handing him a pen. “Sign here and here. I’ll go get them right now.” She stands up from her seat and heads inside to tell the two girls that their father had arrived.

Alex sprawls his messy signature onto the page, huffing before leaning up against the gate. His girls could take anywhere from thirty seconds to five minutes to pack up their things. Luckily today didn’t seem to be the latter, because before he knew it, the two youngest Karev’s came bouncing towards him.

“Daddy!” “Daddy!”

The seven year olds gave him a large hug, showing him matching toothless smiles. When Jo and him found out that she was pregnant for a third time, they were overjoyed. They had always wanted more than two kids, but hadn’t really been actively trying. They were excited to expand their family of four into a family of five. When they discovered that she was not carrying not one, but two babies, they were shocked. Jo wasn’t expecting to get pregnant at thirty-nine, much less with twins. Brynn was seven at the time, and Rory was five, so they were worried about how their kids would react when they found out two new babies would be joining the Karev household.

Rory --surprisingly-- took the news really well. He was excited with the fact that he could have baby brothers. (Oh well. Alex Karev only seemed to make girls, Rory being the one exception.)

Brynn was a bit more reluctant. She had heard from her friends at school how much babies cried and stole all the attention. She loved both her parent’s equally, but she was a Daddy’s girl through and through. The thought of losing both of her parent’s focus was terrifying. What if her Daddy called her new siblings names like Bug or Princess? Those were her names, and her names only. She couldn’t let the new babies steal her names.

It took a while, but after multiple long talks and countless acts of reassurance, but Brynn eventually came around to the idea. Before they knew it, Brynn was just as excited for the upcoming babies as they were. Jo was worried throughout her whole pregnancy. Since she was almost forty, she was now considered to have a geriatric pregnancy. Just the word ‘geriatric’ did nothing to soothe any woman’s nerves, but add that to the fact that Jo was a surgeon and knew all the risks of pregnancy, and she was practically a mess the first few months. As it turned out, the twins ended up being her easiest pregnancy, since Brynn decided to make her entrance into the world four weeks early and while she was carrying Rory she had the occasional spotting that terrified her to her core every time, worried that she was miscarrying.

The twins ended up being born at thirty-five weeks, perfectly healthy. The only thing that gave Jo any trouble at all was the severe morning sickness, which turned out to be all day sickness.

But in the end it was way more than worth it. Faye was pretty much Jo reincarnated, just like Brynn. Every aspect about her was exactly like her mom. Her hair, her eyes, her face shape, chin. The only thing that she inherited was the Karev crooked grin, which all of their children had. (She didn’t even have a big Karev head when she was born!)

Bridgette on the other hand, was all Alex, except for the eye color. Between her potty mouth, sassy attitude, and overall appearance, she was the female mini evil-spawn.

The Evil Spawn Jr, title belonged to Rory, who was basically the male version of Bridgette. Same spunk, same mischievous smirk. Jo was always telling him that she didn’t know what she did to deserve three devil’s in her house. Alex always found that one really funny.

“You guys got everything?” he questions the two, who nod their heads up and down enthusiastically, skipping to the car and greeting their siblings.

He drives the twenty-five minutes back to his house, the twins chattering about in the back seat.

“And then Julie showed her her math problems, and I tried to tell her they were wrong, but she just wouldn’t listen!”

“Tommy was sooo annoying. I kept telling him to stop making noises with his pencil, but he just rolled it back and forth so many times!”

Alex laughs under his breath, listening partially to the twins’s conversation. They sounded exactly like how Cristina and Mer used to rant about completely different things to each other, so it never failed to make him think back to the ‘olden days’ as he and Meredith liked to call them.

If someone were to tell cocky, intern Alex that he would be happily married to the love of his life for (legally) fifteen years, father of four kids, and lived in a house that literally had a white picket fence on the outside of it, he would’ve sent them to a long term psychiatric care facility, because there was no way he would ever have that life. (A life he always secretly wanted, tucked into the very tiniest corner of his brain so it could never venture farther than a fleeting thought here or there).

“--We’re here,” he calls out, shutting off the engine as he parks in the driveway, the kids unbuckling their seatbelts and scrambling out of the car, eager to escape the confines of the vehicle and enjoy the peace of their rooms.

Once all five were inside, he watched as the four children parted ways. “Faye, Bridge, you have thirty minutes of reading down here. Ror, you have that history test you need to study for, and Brynn, you know what you need to do.” he says, his two oldest tromping up the stairs as the twins take their place in the living room on separate seats, already engrossed in the books they needed to read as part of their daily homework assignments.

Alex lets out a tired sigh as he flops onto the couch, more than tempted to grab the remote from the side table and flick on ESPN, but knew that he couldn’t. As much as the girls loved reading, they got distracted from books really easily. Loud horns, cheers, and buzzers wouldn’t be the way to go if he wanted any work to get done. Instead, he plucks the iPad from the coffee table, picking up where he left off that morning with an online medical article.

Before he knew it, Faye and Bridgette’s timer had rung out and they started on their math homework on the kitchen island, something that they finished with ease. Another trait Alex was grateful the children inherited from Jo, her smarts. (Specifically in math)

“Ugh!” he hears a loud exclaim from upstairs, causing him to look up from the device in his hands and glance towards the steps, half expecting an angry looking Brynn to come storming out at any moment. He huffs, focusing his attention back to the iPad in hand when no mini Jo comes down.

“No! There are no other ways!”

Another loud groan of frustration.

“Son of a butthead! There are NO more ways! None! I don't know how the frick to prove that the freakin angle is congruent!”

Alex debates ignoring it and letting his daughter figure it out on his own, that is until he hears something hit a wall. He quickly makes his way up the stairs and to Brynn’s bedroom, standing in the doorway for a few seconds, trying to observe the scene.

Brynn’s normally pristine room had books scattered on the ground, blankets thrown to the side, and an open notebooks posed at an awkward angle on the floor.

Well, at least he knew what hit the wall.

Brynn sat on her bed, literally glaring at her computer screen, partially debating whether or not to throw the expensive device across the room. She didn’t break eye contact, as if she was in a staring contest. Alex wanted to laugh, but he knew a deathly glare would be sent his way if he did.

He knocks on the wood door, sending a questioning glance Brynn’s way as she finally breaks her stare with the inanimate object. “Everything okay?”

The brunette huffs loudly, bouncing back onto the bed as she lets out a groan.

“I hate proofs.” she turns her head to look at her dad, Jo’s signature puppy dog face plastered on her features. He couldn’t help but chuckle. It was crazy how much Brynn looked like Jo. Add that onto the fact that she too shared a love for flannels and jeans, she was pretty much what he imagined a fourteen year old Jo to look like. When he first found out that Brynn was going to be a girl, he said to Jo, ‘I’m gonna need a gun.’

Luckily, that never happened, partially because of the fact that Alex hated guns and Brynn had yet to have a boyfriend. He was more than thankful for that. Especially since he’d seen couples at Brynn’s school canoodling in what they thought was private, even though they were in full view of everyone. He’d be fine with his not-so-little little girl dating when she was twenty-five, no earlier. Any man before that would not be very fortunate.

“I’ll help,” Alex says, taking a spot next to her and Brynn begins to show he dad the problems on her screen, going on about how she was struggling to figure it out.

Shouldn’t be too hard, right?

____

Jo Karev was thrilled when Bailey offered to take over her service for the rest of the day. Her husband had gotten off early, and Bailey knew how much of a struggle it was to spend quality time with family as a surgeon.

She thanked Bailey so many times she lost count, all while boasting a large smile. She couldn’t remember the last time both she and Alex had been home before five o’clock. All she wanted was to go home, snuggle with her babies, and spend time with her husband. Well, her babies weren’t technically babies anymore, Brynn was fourteen, Rory was nearly twelve, and the twins were seven, but nevertheless, they would always be her babies. (Who cared if Rory was five foot three and already almost as tall as her? He was still such a mommy’s boy.)

She drove home with a smile on her face, humming along to the songs on the radio. She was so happy. She wanted to take her kids in her arms, and watch action movies on the couch while they pigged out on pizza together.

When she pulls up in the drive she practically bounces up the steps to the house, swinging open the door and dropping her coat carelessly onto the rack. She hadn’t texted Alex to let him know she was coming home early, in hopes to make it a joyful surprise.

Her heart stopped momentarily at the sound of yelling coming from upstairs. Arguments between Brynn and Alex were few and far between, but when they did happen, they were nasty. Alex always felt like crap for days afterward and Brynn stayed quiet, both at home and at school.

“Do the reflexive property again!”

“Dad we already did that!”

“Well do it again!”

“Why?!”

“Do you see any other way to do it?”

“How is that going to help!”

“It just is!”

“Dad, we've done the reflexive property five times now!”

“You think I don’t know that!”

“Say that segment DA is congruent to AD.”

“But-”

“There are literally no other fucking ways to do it! It’s fucking shit! Thats what it is!”

“You act as if I didn’t already freakin know that!”

A loud groan.

“What the fuck even is this one! We’ve managed to do three of them already. Try proving the triangles congruent now. Push random ones, like Side-Angle-Side.”

“This is crap! ‘You don’t have enough proof to show that the blah blah blah.’ Stupid freaking thing! Freaking worthless!”

Jo is unable to suppress her giggle, clasping a hand over her mouth, trying not to make too much noise. It was a relief to know that the current screaming match going on wasn’t an argument.

“They’ve been at that for an hour and a half now.” she hears her son pipe in, drawing her attention to where he sat on the couch.

Jo sets her bag down on the table, greeting her son with a large hug, “Hi bubs.” she mumbles into his hair, feeling his arms wrap back around her. In private, Rory was the biggest cuddler, touchy-feely person you’d ever met, but in front of his friends he tried way too hard to show he was ‘too cool’ for hugging his mom, so Jo took in these moments and held them close to her heart.

“An hour and a half huh?” she chuckles, running a hand through her son’s gelled hair.

Rory snickers, hazel eyes shining with mischief, “Yeah, dad won’t stop cursing and Tissy just keeps screaming alongside him,” he sits back onto the couch. “I’m surprised neither one of them had lost their voice yet.” he smirks his crooked Karev smirk, focusing his attention on the TV where he had opened up netflix, where he was currently binging Bates Motel. The name ‘Tissy’ came from when he was younger and couldn’t for the life of him say either Brynn nor Sissy. It seemed to have stuck all these years, and he was the only one who ever called his older sister that, even ten years later.

She sees him cringe, “I never called you mother right?” he asks, eyes not leaving the screen, where a certain Norman Bates is practically spooning his own mother in the bed, claiming that he couldn’t sleep.

Jo snorts, ruffling his hair fondly, “Definitely not. And if you ever do, you’re dead Ror, hear me?”

Rory rolls his eyes playfully, giving his mom a grin. “I won’t. Promise.”

Jo heads up the stairs, the loud yells continuing to echo through the halls, which she chooses to ignore.

“Dad for the fiftieth freaking time-”

“--What’s going on here?” Jo questions, causing both her husband and daughter to break away their concentration from the computer screen.

Brynn’s face lights up at the sight of her mom standing in the doorway, more than thankful to have someone who actually knew stuff help her with her math. “Mom!” she exclaims, getting up from her place on the bed to give her mother a hug.

“Hey baby. Care to explain to me why the second I walk through the door I'm greeted with screaming?” She questions, eyebrows raised as she sees Alex sheepishly avoid eye contact, suddenly finding the pictures that hung on the wall very interesting.

Brynn smirks, “Well, Dad sucks at math so-”

“--Hey!” Alex interrupts, crossing his arms over his chest. “I haven’t done this crap in like thirty years!” He defends himself.

Jo rolls her eyes and smiles of her own gracing her lips as she reaches the bed and takes a look at the problems on the computer. “Proofs?” she asks from confirmation, earning a nod from her husband and daughter.

She hums, “Given: segment CA bisects angle BAD and segment CA bisects BCD. Prove: triangle ABC is congruent to triangle ADC.” she murmurs to herself.

The brunette laughs when she sees the fact that the pair had put down some form of the ‘reflexive property’ not one, not two, but seven times.

She grins triumphantly as she remembers how to do the problem, the skills seemingly coming back to her after years of them being dormant. “Next statement is angle BCA is congruent to DCA because…” she scrolls through the possible options the box provided, smirking when she found the right one. “An angle bisector divides an angle into two congruent angles.”

She watches as an angle pops up on the screen, only encouraging her to continue, “Then… angle DAC is congruent to angle BAC because an angle bisector divides an angle into two congruent angles.”

Another angle comes up.

“Finally,” she smirks, glancing to the side of for a brief second to take in the draw dropped stares of the two behind her. Brynn was a whiz at math like her mom, but proofs was something she’d been struggling with since they’d started learning them yesterday. Geometry was no joke. Her and her dad had already gotten almost all of the problems done, but it had taken so long to do a few measly problems that they’d lost track of just how long they'd been sitting in the room, arguing back and forth over different possibilities to try.

“Triangle ABC is congruent to triangle ADC, reason being Angle-Side-Angle.”

She grins, wiping her hands together as she hits the submit button, a large green check with a correct! floating on the screen, going over the ways to solve the problem.

Alex glares at her. He’d been working on these fucking proofs for so long now, and Jo just comes in and completes it in less than a minute?

“I hate you.” he gruffs, still glaring at both his wife and the computer.

Jo giggles, leaning over and pecking her husband’s lips. “Love you too.”

She begins to walk out of the room, stopping and calling out over her shoulder as she reaches the doorway, “Now you just need to make sure the twins did their homework!”

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nelllraiser · 4 years

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seeing is beleafing | solomon & nell

LOCATION: nell’s greenhouse at the vural home. PARTIES: @shroomsbysolomon & @nelllraiser. SUMMARY: solomon stumbles upon a lush haven, and nell tries to defend her plants only to be pleasantly surprised.

As always— the pinging of the property spell going off when someone foreign crossed it jolted Nell awake, anxiety quick to pool in her stomach. Grabbing a knife from her bedside table, she clutched it confidently as she made her way out to the balcony that was connected to her room, leaning over the edge of it to find whether she could see who this intruder was from the vantage point. Spotting an outrageously tall figure by her greenhouse, her ire only grew hotter, and Nell wasted no time in launching herself over the side of the railing, using a spell to slow her fall and land softly on the grass beneath. Then she was making angry strides towards her prized possession, trying to make sense of the mass of...whatever it was that was peering through the glass. “Hey!” she yelled out at the stranger, realizing whoever this was had to be at least nine feet tall. “Get your slender-man ass away from my plants!” she called out again, brandishing the knife in front of her as she closed in. It was only as she got closer that she recognized why the form of the intruder was so hard to identify. All the distinguishing lines of a person were broken up by...were those little mushrooms growing off of him?

Usually when he was this close to town, Solomon would have started using his illusory magic. It wasn’t likely that he’d run into someone out here, but it was possible… with the small smattering of cabins that dotted the area. But tonight? Tonight he was distracted, because he’d suddenly stumbled upon a greenhouse that he’d somehow managed to completely miss for however long, and he was smitten. Moving almost silently through the trees, the massive Leshy slowly came out into the clearing that surrounded the property, eyeless gaze fixed upon the structure. A soft sound reverberated from within the elk skull that hid his face, something akin to a very pleased sigh, and he lumbered over to the object of his attention. Pushing off the grass with his hands, Solomon rose to his full height, leaning carefully against the glass as he peered inside. There were so many lovely plants to take in! He wanted to be inside, to smell that damp, earthy goodness — but someone was coming. With a start, the creature dropped back down onto his hands, turning his lithe frame to face the small woman as he tried to make himself appear smaller. Shit. The lichen and moss that hung from his antlers swayed as he shifted awkwardly on the spot, keeping his branch-like hands planted firmly against the soil between his feet. “No, I…” His voice was deep and rumbling, but still gentle, in an unexpected sort of way. “Sssorry. Just… admiring.” He turned his head to glance warily at the greenhouse, then dipped it in a way that was perhaps meant to convey his shame in being caught.

He’d gone back to his crouched position, making himself smaller as Nell yelled. Good. It seemed she’d successfully yelled him into submission despite him still being nearly the same height as her even in this diminished pose. “That’s right!” she spoke in the same aggressive tone, knife flashing in the light of the moon. “Go ahead and take your noodle butt somewhere el-” she paused mid sentence as the indeterminate shape of a creature turned towards her, and she finally came to recognize what was perched atop its head. An elk skull? She recognized the shape from her own sacrifices she’d made for blood magic, though the ones she encountered didn’t usually speak back to her, and certainly not in a tone so demure. It was distracting enough for her to take a long moment to pinpoint exactly what it was the creature in front of her was. With assorted plants growing from him he looked like his own personal biome, a walking haven for his little mushrooms. A leshy? She’d only met one other, and he hadn’t looked all that similar to the man in front of her, no animal skull or mushrooms to speak of. The fae’s prompt apology had her hackles lowering in the slightest, her blade also dipping a fraction of an inch. “...You like it? The greenhouse?” It would make sense, wouldn’t it? A leshy admiring some greenery.

Solomon never enjoyed being yelled at, of course, though it was a rare occurrence. Still, his reaction was to recoil, not to lash out, as the young woman had posed no real threat just yet. Flinching beneath the bite of her words, he lapsed into a hopeful silence when she took a few beats to really examine him, keeping still as he could. It had been quite a time since a human (or human-presenting) being had seen him in this form, and he was quick to recall how it had played out the last few times. To say it’d gone poorly would be an understatement… he hoped that would not be the case today. It seemed he was in luck, for after her pause she posed a question that simply begged him to respond enthusiastically. “Oh, yes,” the creature mused, nodding his large head at her, lifting a hand to press it gently against the glass once more. “Lovely. Isss it yours? Do you care for it? I wasss just wishing I could get inside, without…” He dipped his head again, waving his claws dismissively before returning them to the spot between his feet. “... you know. Breaking.”

The more the leshy seemed to withdraw as she berated him, the less Nell felt the need to threaten him. It was plain to see that the man-tree wasn’t planning on fighting back, and Nell paused a beat before finally giving her knife a thoughtful twirl, letting it lower to her side. It was still gripped snugly in her hold, but looking less and less like she was anticipating the need to stab or slash. It was hard to maintain her wariness when he replied with such enthusiasm to her question, seemingly a naturally endearing creature. “Uh- yeah, it’s mine. I got it about ten months ago.” It had been part of her parents’ bribe to bring her home from a five-year excursion outside White Crest, and into her sister’s home. As the fae expressed his concern and care for entering the greenhouse, Nell stood somewhat nonplussed, uncertain as to where they were meant to go from here. “Who are you, exactly?” That made sense to ask, right? “I don’t usually let strangers into my greenhouse…” But who else would know how to appreciate her plants as well as a leshy would? His desires seemed relatively harmless for the moment.

Listening carefully while she explained, Solomon found his gaze flicking between the owner of the greenhouse and all the plants that rested on the other side of the glass. Ahh, so it was fairly new, that must have been why he hadn’t come across it till now. As a rule, he didn’t usually get this close to dwellings in the outskirts, but once the greenhouse had caught his eye, he’d forgotten all his usual rules. Then, of course, came the question of his identity. “Oh, well, you sssee…” His voice trailed, head tilting slightly skyward as if he were lost in thought. “I would… rather not say… but I have lived in these woods for two yearsss now. Go into town during the day… obviously not looking like thisss.” He glanced down at himself, large, claw-like fingertips tapping into the soft earth. “It is okay, I can… look from here,” he offered, though the self restraint seemed to have deflated him a bit.

“Not even a name? Or something to call you?” Nell pressed lightly, not knowing how to address the leshy if she didn’t have a way of identifying him. But she also knew fae and their strange ways when it came to names at times. “You don’t have to tell me anything else.” Two years...that would have been some time after Bea bought the house. “Yeah, I’d imagine a giant tree walking around the Common might be a little attention grabbing,” the witch tried to joke. “But then again people around here see crazy shit every day.” For a moment the young woman worried her lip between her teeth, looking between the funghi-ridden man and her beloved plants. “If I let you in...you promi-” she cut the word off mid-sentence as she reminded herself she was dealing with fae. “You won’t touch anything unless you ask?” Normally she wouldn’t be so ready to allow a stranger access to her haven, but the fact that he was quite literally a plant himself helped to comfort the worry she might have over any potential hazard.

Solomon had never had a name, not until he stole one from a man he murdered. There was probably something that the vikings had called him when they found him back when he was just a sapling, but he couldn’t really remember anymore. He knew that if he gave her the name he used to masquerade as a human, she’d probably figure it out… eventually. And he’d like to keep that eventuality to a minimum, despite having mucked it up a couple times already. He really was a terrible liar. Trying to think on his feet, the leshy tried hard to come up with something else she could call him, and the only things coming to mind were the plants he spent so much time around, cultivating and cherishing. “You may call me… ehm… Lily,” he muttered, the delicate white curves of the flower filling his mind. His attention quickly shifted, though, and his whole body seemed to jitter excitedly as the woman laid down some ground rules for him. “Of courssse!” he chirped. “Permission first.”

Nell waited curiously, the curiosity giving way to a flicker of amusement crossing her features when the leshy gave his answer. “Alright Lily- if we’re doing code names then I’m gonna give myself a cool one, too.” Which one would suffice, though? Hellraiser had been her name in the Ring, but that felt cringey to give in this sort of setting, and she didn’t want to bring any part of the place that had only cultivated pain and sorrow to follow her into the future. Taki was another obvious choice seeing as they were one of her favorite snacks...but she couldn’t steal the name of her familiar. “I’ll be...Len,” she finally said with a snicker, all too tickled by the foolish way she’d reversed her name to make a new one. “Lenny- if my plants like you enough.” It was meant as a joke while she turned back towards her greenhouse, looking over her shoulder to once again scan over the leshy before doubling down on her decision to let him into one of her most sacred spaces. Whispering a personalized spell that unlocked the door, she stepped into the greenhouse, turning to see if Lily would follow. “So this is it- welcome to the inside.”

Leaning in eagerly, black eye sockets fixed on the back of her head as she opened the door, Solomon let out a delighted grumble as it swung open and the stranger invited him in. Crawling forward on his hands and feet, head ducking down as he carefully slipped through the threshold, mindful of the size of his crown of bone, Solomon breathed deeply. His sigh seemed to swell in the enclosed space, the leaves of the plants reaching in his direction ever so slightly, then falling back to their original positions as he settled onto the floor. He was big, too big, and so his body began to shrink. Fae illusory magic brought him down to a more reasonable seven feet tall, and even his antler rack decreased in size, the uppermost points vanishing as the bone seemed to fade away. He seemed to pay this transformation no mind, transfixed instead by the healthy glow of all these flowers and greenery. “Beautiful,” the creature breathed, moving his skeletal face as close as he could to each new one that caught his eye, getting the best look possible without disturbing the plants, as promised. “Which isss your favorite?”

Nell could only blink in intrigue as Lily morphed himself to fit the confines of the greenhouse. To be honest, fae were the branch of species she was generally the least familiar with, though perhaps there should actually be some further understanding between herself and them considering that the fair folk were the only ones to hold their magic as spellcasters did. She knew the magic was different, having their own brand of weaving and channeling and the like, but it still linked them, didn’t it? “You like it?” Nell asked with a hint of pride to her voice. After all, what greater achievement was there than a nearly literal spirit of the forest approving your plants? Surely he’d be the best reigning opinion on the matter. The greenhouse was lush, full of a wide variety of plants with the least conspicuous of them gracing the front end of the greenhouse. However if one bothered to venture further, they’d be first greeted with plants of a witchier origin, plenty of herbs and the like to help fuel spellwork. The further one went in, the more supernatural it got, with greenery unknown to the normal world growing in the back. “Oh, I can’t choose a favorite,” she answered, fielding the question as if someone had asked who her favorite child was. “And even if I could, I wouldn’t say it in front of them,” she joked lightly. “Did you have a favorite?”

Nodding enthusiastically, Solomon continued to survey the expanse of plantlife. His gaze was drawn to the rear of the greenhouse, and he noticed how the more humble plants were stationed near the front, leaving the more interesting ones tucked away, secret. Shrugging in agreement, Solomon let out a dry, scratchy laugh. “That isss a good point,” he mused, moving farther into the building, still lumbering on all fours like an animal, to better keep himself from knocking into things. “Well, I am fond of liliesss... as you may have guessed,” he answered distractedly, large head swaying this way and that, body ducking down to the floor to get a good look at the shorter sprouts, then reaching up, up, up to admire the tall ones. “Len, I am… sssurprised to sssee such variety in… a human’s care,” Solomon commented as they made their way farther back, the more exotic and purposeful greenery becoming abundant. He could sense something about her, something that reminded him of the witches he had known many hundreds of years ago. They had been good to him, and he remembered them fondly to this day. The energy that radiated from the young woman was almost identical, which begged the question… “Are you a witch?” Of course it would make sense, with a greenhouse like this, but he didn’t want to be rude and assume anything.

Nell decided that Lily reminded her of a very solemn toddler— like one of those children on a talk-show who were brought on because they knew the name of every country on the map and its capital before they could even properly hold a spoon. Seemingly mature and composed, but not entirely understanding of the concepts an everyday human would encounter, and shaky on their execution. Perhaps that was why he seemed to be so endearing. “Do you have a favorite lily?” she asked quickly, eager to have met someone who could understand the beauty of growth and greenery. As he used her silly pseudonym, Nell barely surprised a small snicker, settling for a crooked grin instead. Nevertheless, she was proud at his continued approval of her set up and plants. She shouldn’t have been surprised by his final question, but her eyebrows raised slightly nonetheless, silent for a split moment as she thought her answer over. It would be fair to divulge her own identity in return, wouldn’t it? After all, she already knew he was a Leshy, and he didn’t seem to mean any harm. “Yep, that’s me. Lots of this stuff I use for spellwork. But some of it’s just for the kitchen, too. Sometimes it’s for both.” Kitchen magic was a lovely branch of mysticality. “And sometimes it’s just ‘cause it’s pretty.”

“The Forever Sssusan lily,” Solomon answered after a brief moment of thought, “it reminds me of autumn.” He cast her a fond glance, if such a thing could be achieved with an expressionless, bone visage. When she answered his rather straightforward question, he seemed to brighten even further. “Brilliant,” he muttered happily, the mushrooms that dotted his large frame seeming to grow just a touch taller. “I used to know sssome witches, up in the mountainsss… oh, they were wonderful. Sssome of my favorite people. They were very good to me.” His gaze fell on Len again after wandering her greenhouse a bit more, inspecting the more exotic flora. “You ssseem good too, Len. Kind.” He seemed almost relieved, his thoughts recalling the less than kind spellcaster he’d met a couple weeks prior, who had absolutely rubbed him in every wrong way possible. Crouched on his hands and feet, Solomon lifted his head high and took one more deep, long breath. “Thank you for sssharing your greenhouse with me. It wasss a nice break from the familiarity of these woods.” He realized, in that moment, that if he were to have a home—a proper one, that was—he would want something like this. “Do you think… perhapsss… I could return sssome day? If it is no trouble… It just feels very, ah… nice in here.” Not to mention, he could use more friends.

Nell made a humming sound of approval as Lily imparted his favorite flower, already envisioning the deep purples and vibrant oranges of the bloom in her mind’s eye. It was a stunning flower, and certainly one of the showier lilies. Vaguely, she wondered what Lily’s choice said about him, but she wasn’t nearly so perceptive as to make a passing and accurate judgement into the inner workings of a stranger’s mind such as the leshy’s. Still she wondered at what it meant that the forest creature would enjoy being reminded of autumn, the time in which most plants lost their color and leaves. Perhaps he liked the promise that they would return, and the cycle of life that continued to turn in its unshakable circle. Nell nodded eagerly as he mentioned the other witches, remembering childhood trips their mother had taken them on to visit sister covens. The nostalgia was quickly followed with a small pang of pain, knowing that those bridges had most likely been burned when she and her sisters had been banished from their coven. “I’m glad,” she decided to answer simply, a well-meaning half smile on her lips. As for kindness...she’d never particularly used that word when thinking of herself. Well-meaning, perhaps. Or possibly even thoughtful at times, but it was hard for her to reconcile the mistakes and choices she’d made with a word as soft as ‘kind’. “If I am, it’s only because you’ve been kind in return,” she said diplomatically, not entirely knowing how to accept his compliment when she wasn’t all that sure it was true. His request to return left her hesitating for a split second. The greenhouse had always been a place of repose, a hideaway haven where she could simply be away from the world and all others. But if there was anyone who would appreciate the greenhouse for what it was as she did, surely it would be Lily. Her response to his question was to forage through a nearby string that had newly dried tea leaves from it. Whispering a few words of magic over the lemon balm leaves she’d chosen, she then offered them to Lily. “When you wanna visit- just brew these into a tea, and I’ll know to meet you here and to let you in.”

Similarly, Solomon had never been described as ‘kind’ by anyone he’d known… though people’s opinions of him were often kept secret, so there was no telling the impressions he’d left on those who kept their tongues tied. The assessment struck him as curious, and he made a mental note of it. Interacting with people was hard enough already, he’d take any tips people gave out so freely. Watching the witch while she suddenly busied her hands, large head canted to the side, Solomon gave a soft, delighted sigh when she turned around again to give him his instructions. “Thank you, Len,” he gushed, holding a spindly-fingered hand out to accept the leaves, cradling them gently in his large palm as he looked back to her face. The magic was intriguing to him, to say the least—obviously it was very different from his own, and he found the (apparent) simplicity of it to be fascinating. Brew tea, summon friend. Easy as that! Closing his hand to protect the tea leaves, the leshy gave her a deep bow of his head. “I look forward to our next meeting, then,” he murmured happily, rising to his feet to walk back to the greenhouse entrance with her, again ducking through the doorway and stepping out into the moonlit clearing. “Be well!” She was offered an enthusiastic wave, one Solomon had seen many people perform before, and then he was off, lumbering back into the darkness of the wood. What a charming, unexpected evening! He’d remember it fondly for decades to come.

#ch:solomon #seeing is beleafing #chatzy #wickedswriting

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oh1captain9my4captain2 · 5 years

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Chasing Time

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader

Warnings: Major Endgame spoilers

Words: 2,100 (I am so SO sorry! I went a little overboard with this chapter😬)

With time constantly ticking by, the reader decides it’s finally time to start a family. With or without a man. So she recruits one of the Avengers for assistance. But how exactly will that pan out for them? (Part 12 of my series - Chasing Time)

With Christopher finally under control you were able to have a little peace of mind. Having a baby in Stark Tower with Steve, and Natasha was the greatest experience in the world. Although you and Nat had your differences, you had still managed to coincide with one another for the sake of not going completely mad. Shortly after discovering Christopher’s powers, though, you’d all made the move to the compound. Tony had left after making the super suit for his godchild with the announcement that Pepper was expecting; assuring you that if anything went wrong you should give him a call. Your kids were going to be almost nine months apart, but, even so, it took five years for them to finally meet.

“Christopher! Your lunch is ready!” You shouted down the hall to your five year old son. He’d been in the living room playing with his toy action figures which was a change from what he usually did; messing with his powers. Most of them had dissipated with time, but one of them in particular had stuck around for good. His metallic ability was the first one to go, along with the telekinesis shortly after; which you couldn’t say you were mad about. The one that stayed; being able to light things on fire.

Steve had grown to calling him the “human torch” at three years old, and the nickname stuck. They would practice the safety of super powers outside on the front lawn; which generally ended in more than one thing catching on fire while Steve attempted to put it out with the fire extinguishers that were always on hand. It was considered a good day when only a few things managed to get singed, and, while he’d never been as buff as his father, he still wasn’t the smallest boy in his class. One thing that never changed in the slightest was his striking resemblance to Steve, and you questioned when someone might begin to notice, but no one ever did.

“Mom, someone’s at the front gate. He’s yelling something about ants,” your son said, confused.

“Well, where’s Steve?” You asked, wondering why he hadn’t opened the gate, or at least check to see who it was.

“Nat told me he was at another meeting,” Christopher explained, setting his Captain America action figure on the bar as he took a few bites of his dinosaur chicken nuggets.

Steve had been attending more and more meetings lately. While he’d managed to help a few of the people move on, there were still several that remained stuck in the past; just like him. What you didn’t know was that he still talked about you there, and how he had been fighting this battle for over five years of whether he should move on from Peggy, or keep her presence alive through him. Steve talked about your son, and how close they had become; not to mention the feelings he got when he saw the two of you together. Whether you were playing, talking, or relaxing on the couch with Christopher, he still couldn’t shake the feeling that he might want something more.

Every time, the instructor always asked him the same question, sounding like a broken record. “What does your heart tell you?” That was the problem, even after all this time, it still wouldn’t give him a direct answer.

“What is that sound?” You heard Steve remark, coming into the kitchen and swiping a chicken nugget from off his son’s plate.

“Thought you were at another meeting?” You questioned, giving him the side eye for taking Christopher’s food.

“We finished early,” he corrected, listening even closer. “Am I hearing things, or does it sound like someone is yelling?”

“Must be your hearing, I read that it’s the first thing to go with age,” you joked, playfully, and he rolled his eyes.

“I told mommy some strange man has been yelling outside about ants,” Christopher shrugged, throwing his Captain America doll into the air as he pretended it could fly.

Steve’s expression shifted to curiosity before heading to the living room for Friday to pull up the front cameras for the house. On his way out of the kitchen, though, he turned around and pointed at his son. “Captain America doesn’t fly,” he corrected, smirking as he continued on his way.

“Friday, open the camera for the front gait,” Steve ordered, looking directly at a disheveled Scott Lang who was leaping up and down and shouting nonsense.

Natasha sat up from her seat behind him in shock. “What the hell?” She fumbled for the controls, zooming in on his face to confirm it was him.

“This is an old message, right?” Steve thought, trying to brush it off as some kind of coincidence, but what he hadn’t expected was for Natasha to shake her head no.

Immediately they opened the gate and let him in, freaking out when they learned how he had made it back. “Do you think we could get the others back the same way?” Steve considered as the excitement in the room began to build.

Scott went on about time travel, and later it was suggested that you all get the gang back together. What they had forgotten to remember was that Tony Stark was a father now, and so was Steve. Reversing the affects completely would still mean losing people you cared about. Which is why there would be no reversing it all; just bringing them all back to the present.

That’s exactly how you all ended up at Tony Stark’s cabin in the woods. You had to admit that the lake was beautiful, but the seclusion itself did not scream Stark Tower. No, it seemed as though starting a family had really caused him to change his ways.

To be honest, you hadn’t tagged along in the hopes of getting the opportunity to time travel. What you really wanted was to be able to see Tony again. Life had gotten in the way of you two, and, even though you were best friends, there still was never enough time for you and him to get together. He said he’d always be a phone call away, but you always told yourself that a phone goes two ways, and, if he didn’t want to talk to you, you would still be okay.

“Hey, tin-man, long time no see,” you snapped, smirking at him as you ran over to give Tony Stark a hug.

“What’s going on, guys?” He laughed, squeezing you tightly as he looked over at Natasha, Scott, Steve, and Christopher.

“We may have found a way to bring everyone back,” Steve informed him, using his authoritative tone. You had to admit, it’d been a long time since you’d heard him use his Captain America voice, but it was still just as hot as you’d remembered years ago.

“Sorry guys, I can’t. Anything else, anything, but not that,” Tony politely declined. Even after Scott’s in depth explanation, and how positively sure he was that it would work, Tony still refused to budge.

We left feeling less enthusiastic, but we had managed to convince Thor, Rocket, Banner, Nebula, Rhodey, and Clint to rejoin our team. Which brought us back to the compound where we were preparing our first jump.

Scott was the first to go back on his own which hadn’t ended as planned. First; we didn’t think we’d get him back, then he was a teenager, and an old man, and, finally, a baby. Until we‘d mastered it on the fifth try, and got the original Scott back.

After our first trial run with him we let Clint go back to guarantee our success. Which came back as our first official good leap, putting us in the clear to all go back together.

Not before Tony decided to make his grand appearance, though. I was expected to follow strict orders from Tony, and Steve. They wanted me to remain unseen since my past self wouldn’t have been with them after they’d captured Loki. I was basically just going to be there in the off chance that they needed me.

Christopher would be joining us in the jump, and, although his powers were dodgy at best, he still could come in handy. “Are you ready?” You had asked him as you took his hand. He shook his head excitedly, and gave Steve a smile before you all went back to the year 2012.

With the dispersal of everyone throughout the town, you and Christopher made your way to the lobby of Stark Tower. Tony said that it shouldn’t take him long and he would be down with the tesseract. As you waited there with your son, though, you began to question whether or not he was ever actually going to show. That was until he finally came down, and he still managed to let the tesseract fall into Loki’s hands so that he could get away.

“Well, that went better than I thought it would,” you admitted, sarcastically, as you rolled your eyes at him.

“Give me a break, I was trying my best. Where were you?” Tony remarked, giving you a side eye.

“Taking care of my son, and watching you, butterfingers,” you retaliated, annoyed.

“Looks like we’re gonna have to go with plan ‘B’,” Tony thought allowed as we met up with Steve and Scott.

“Tell me you got it?” Steve growled in his husky voice, already giving Tony a dirty look.

“Not exactly,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “I have a plan, though!”

Tony’s plan was for us to go back to the 1970’s, and you were anything but okay with that. You knew there was a chance that Steve would see Peggy, and you didn’t know if you could handle that kind of rejection taking place right in front of you. It was one thing to imagine it in your head, but seeing it with your own eyes would be the very thing that would break your heart.

Of course that meant Tony insisting you go with them; partially because he wanted you as back up, and because he wanted you there for Steve. You hesitated, but agreed, and Scott assured you that he’d take care of Christopher while you were gone.

Steve seemed to know his way around the 70’s, and when you followed him down an elevator and into a dark room you felt your heart drop to your stomach. Peggy was standing on the other side of the glass in the middle of a conversation with someone else. Your eyes drifted to Steve who was watching her intensely, but you couldn’t make out the expression on his face. Was he considering the idea of running in there?

You were pulled from your thoughts by Steve who was gesturing for you to follow him out, so that you could get back to Tony. The entire time you couldn’t shake the idea, though, that something had changed. He seemed to hold himself differently, and his dark, stern, voice made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

“You may be the star spangled man with a plan, but are you sure you know where you’re going?” You scoffed, following him down enough hallways that you were starting to get dizzy.

“Be quiet,” he ordered, making it down a long stretch before pushing open a door as the sunlight poured across your face.

“You know, you may be in charge of everyone else, but I don’t have to listen to you.” The words cut like knives as they slipped off your tongue, and you immediately regretted having said it.

“Then why exactly are you here? I’m trying to help you, and if people hear you talking like that then you’re gonna blow our cover.” His retaliation hadn’t been angry, but informing, which made you realize that he hadn’t been saying it to be rude. No, he was doing it to get the job done, and get out of here. What was it that ran through his head when he saw Peggy after all these years? Why was he so ready to go back to the present?

It was too late, Tony was back, and you were all standing together to prepare for the leap back to the future. You would just have to give it a little extra thought some other time because, right now, looking up at him, it didn’t feel like you were standing next to Captain America. It felt like you were with the person you’d fall in love with oh so long ago; Steve Rogers.

——————————————

@carebaredanvers @torntaltos @homecomlng @bluediamondsevie @vesta-ro @iron-sass

@marcelaverzani @mrspeacem1nusone

@myles-production @stevieboyharrington

@mariemrose @ncrediblelove

@captain-seriously-don-t @xchrisxevansx @marvelouspottering @stat89posts

@denzmallows @imafangirlofeverything

@humandasaster @sgtevanstan @americasarse @theroyalbrownbarbie

#captain america #chris evans #steve rogers #avengers #avengers age of ultron #avengers infinity war #avengers endgame #avengers endgame spoilers #endgame #captain america x reader #chris evans x reader #steve rogers x reader #captian america fanfiction #steve rogers fanfiction #chris evans fanfiction #captain america the first avenger #captain america winter soldier #captain america civil war #gif not mine

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glaciernps · 5 years

Text

Bewitched by Bats from an Early Age

By Renata Harrison

Tonight I witnessed something truly unique. We’ve trapped and taken measurements of over 25 little brown bats. I’ve seen the intricacies of their wings, their fuzzy bodies, their tiny teeth. We even caught a flying squirrel. As amazing as all of that was, though, the real marvel of the night was a special relationship that formed.

Twenty-five people stand in a circle listening to wildlife biologist Lisa Bate explain the evening’s events. We’re all here for the Going Batty field trip, having come from near and far to discover the world of bats. One of the participants, six-year-old Izzy Herreid-Terrill, has driven six hours from Bozeman, Montana to come to Glacier for this field trip. As Lisa tells us the plan for the night, no one is paying better attention than Izzy. Clutching two plush, stuffed bats to her chest, she hangs on to Lisa’s every word.

Izzy’s obsession with bats began during a visit to Lewis and Clark Caverns in southern Montana, where she was upset to learn how they were affected by white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that has killed millions of bats in North America. On the first day of kindergarten, when teachers asked her what she wanted to do when she grew up, she said she wanted to save bats from the disease. Izzy feels that bats are misunderstood. “They’re not as scary or ugly as adults think,” she explains.

Lisa Bate gets it. Surrounded by bat enthusiasts, she tells us how her own fascination began. As a young girl not much older than Izzy, she’d sit out in the backyard, watching as bats appeared out of the darkness to hunt for insects. She developed her very own bat-signal—a rock in a sock. Flinging the bright, white sock into the air, she watched as dark forms swooped to investigate it.

Lisa has been studying flying animals for over 25 years as a wildlife biologist. She earned her master’s in wildlife biology, focusing on birds. When she arrived in Glacier, she admits, “I didn’t know anything about bats, other than that I liked them and I was fascinated by them.” She was surprised to learn that there had never been a formal survey of bats in the park. With the threat of white-nose syndrome looming, Lisa decided to take action. She recruited the help of world-renowned bat biologist Cori Lausen. With funding from the Glacier National Park Conservancy, Cori led Lisa and her team on a crash course in bat surveying. Two years later, Cori left the project in Lisa’s capable hands, and it continues to this day. Tonight, Lisa and her colleagues have invited the public to take a peek into the mysterious world of bats.

After an introduction to bat biology and survey techniques, we head off to check out the mist nets used for trapping. Lisa leads the pack, striding ahead at her field-biologist pace. Most of us amble behind, chatting, but someone is running to catch up with Lisa. Izzy’s full of questions, and Lisa bends down as they walk to make sure she hears them. I watch as these two bat buffs confer like longtime colleagues, stepping in stride. Although things have changed, Lisa has typically been in the minority as a female in her field. She’s clearly delighted to talk to this gung-ho little girl.

Lisa and her team’s task tonight is to collect, identify, and take measurements of as many bats as they can catch. The goal of these surveys is to get a better idea of which species of bats live in the park and where they hibernate.

Obtaining this baseline data is essential, especially now with the threat of white-nose syndrome. The disease has killed millions of hibernating bats. Some species have been reduced by as much as 90%. One of these species is the little brown bat, the most abundant bat in Glacier. Little brown bats are extremely susceptible to white-nose syndrome. The fungus invades their tissues as they hibernate, disrupting water and mineral balances, and often killing them. Since its discovery in a cave in New York in 2006, white-nose syndrome has spread to 33 states and 7 Canadian provinces. “It’s a matter of when—not if—it arrives in Montana,” says Lisa.

Sitting in the waning evening light, we eagerly wait for the trapping to begin, but Lisa informs us that we won’t start until the birds stop singing. That’s the bats’ cue to come out and start hunting, and our cue to raise the nets. All nine of Glacier’s bat species are insectivorous and can eat thousands of insects a night. Izzy points out that the first time she saw bats they were eating mosquitoes, which immediately earned them her support.

Through a combination of echolocation, highly adapted wing structure, and super-fine sensory motor control, bats pinpoint prey in the dark. Surprisingly, they can also see the fine mesh of mist nets used for trapping. If the nets are at the wrong angle to the wind, if there’s too much moonlight, or if raindrops are stuck to the net, bats will notice and fly around them.

After about an hour of waiting, there’s a flurry of excitement. At the mist net set up over the creek, Lisa’s colleagues have started catching bats. Radioing back and forth to each other, the biologists give instructions. “We’ve already got thirteen down here!” “Let’s get this going,” Lisa says. “I gotta start processing these!”

Lisa rushes to her truck, a batmobile in every practical sense. As we gather around, eager to see our first bat, Lisa asks for an assistant. Izzy is perched in the truck bed, ready to hand Lisa the tools she needs. Another young helper records data. It’s important to process the bats as quickly as possible so they can be set safely free again.

Although she’s working quickly, Lisa doesn’t leave Izzy, or the rest of us, in the dark. She talks through the process of identifying the bats, holding each one gently in gloved hands. With each step, Lisa makes sure Izzy can see and understand what she’s doing. As I watch her look at the bats’ teeth, measure their wings, and determine their sex, I realize that I’ve never really given bats a chance. I admit, I’m one of those adults who found them, well, a little scary and ugly. Seeing them up close and learning about their incredible adaptations starts the wheels turning, but it’s Lisa and Izzy’s enthusiasm that seals the deal.

Watching them bond over bats, I think back to when I was Izzy’s age. Although I loved the outdoors, I was a lot more fearful than she is. My family spent summers in a cabin on a lake in northern Ontario, where spiders and night noises sent me into waves of panic. Coming back from the outhouse in the dark, I’d dart to the cabin and close the door breathlessly behind me against the night. I didn’t know what was out there, so my mind conjured monsters. I overcame my fear of spiders by learning about the adaptations behind their creepy appearance. It continues to surprise me how education can erase fear. Before tonight, I never wanted to get this close to a bat. The closer I look, though, the more enamored I become of these amazing creatures of the night.

It's now past midnight. My urge to go home and crawl into bed is winning over any desire I have to study more bats. I’ve been squinting through my camera so long, I’ve lost track of who’s around me. I walk to my car in the dark alone, not tempted to run breathlessly like I used to. As I drift off to sleep in my warm, comfy bed, I remember that Izzy was still there when I left a while ago. Could she still be out there now, perched in Lisa’s truck bed, persevering through every last bat?

The next day, I find myself talking about bats to anyone who will listen. Luckily, I catch Lisa at the office and thank her for a wonderful evening. Somehow buzzing with energy after such a late night, she’s clearly charged up by something. “Wasn’t that little girl great!!” she blurts out. Beaming, Lisa tells me proudly that Izzy stayed until 2:00 a.m. helping her process all the bats. As she rushes to her next adventure, she trails off, “I have just about a million more things I could tell you about Izzy…”

****

Later, I’m sitting in my office, poring through photos from the field trip. My attempts at photographing the bats squirming in Lisa’s hand under the dull glow of a headlamp are as fuzzy as the bats themselves. I sigh and rub my eyes, feeling a bit morose at not having done these unique creatures justice. It’s difficult to capture how delicate they are, how ephemeral. I wonder if I’ll ever have the chance to see them like that again.

An email pops up in my inbox, interrupting my thoughts. It’s from Izzy’s mom. She writes that Izzy came home from the field trip and said it was the best day of her life! She could recite almost word-for-word everything she learned from Lisa that night. She, too, couldn’t stop talking about bats the day after the field trip. When asked if she wanted to share anything about the event, Izzy said, “Only that more people should learn about the things in nature all around them, and then they wouldn't be scared.”

[Image descriptions, top to bottom: Photo 1: Closeup of a little brown bat on a researcher’s glove. Photo 2: A little girl and a woman scientist step in sync down a gravel path in the woods. Photo 3: Closeup of a little brown bat with white fungus covering its face. Photo 4: A little girl and a scientist talk to each other across the back of a pickup truck. Photo 5: Illuminated by headlamp, a woman scientist shows the little girl a bat. Photo 6: Closeup of a little girl gazing admiringly at a bat held by a researcher.]

#park science #bats #myotis #little brown bat #field biology #women in science #wildlife biology #white nose syndrome #batweek #bat week 2019

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snarkymarly · 4 years

Photo

Task #3

BASIC INFORMATION

Full Name: Marlene Audi McKinnon

Nickname(s): Marly, Marls, McKitten, McKnickers

Age: 22

Date of Birth: April 12th

Hometown: Devon, England

Current Location: Transient

Gender: Female

Blood Status: Pure Blood

Pronouns: She/Her

Orientation: Pansexual

Religion: Agnostic

Affiliation: Order of the Phoenix

Occupation: Hit Witch

Living Arrangements: Transient and planning to move out of her shared apartment to find her own

Language(s) Spoken: English, some French, moderate Latin

Accent: British

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Face Claim: Freya Mavor

Hair Colour: Blonde

Eye Colour: Blue

Height: 5′2″

Weight: 110 lbs

Build: Marlene is quite petite (don’t call her small), but she carries some muscle from years of Quidditch and physical training.

Tattoos: She has “Where dwell the brave at heart” on her left-side ribcage/underboob and wants more.

Piercings: Three in each earlobe

Clothing Style: Marlene has two very distinct clothing styles. For any sort of formal event, she dresses to the nines. Heels, dresses, hair perfectly styled. She likes making a good impression and drawing attention at parties. Otherwise, you can probably find Marlene in a cropped hoodie and shredded jeans with some worn-down boots. There is no in-between.

Usual Expression: Again, she has two very distinct expressions. Most of the time, Marlene is bright and bubbly, with a grin from ear to ear. Life is amazing and Marlene wears her joy on her sleeve. Catch her in a bad mood and she wears a very intentional resting bitch face, a skill she claims she learned from all the pureblood parties during her childhood.

Distinguishing Characteristics: The two most unique things about Marlene are her height and her freckles. She’s gotten over being insecure about her height and loves her freckles.

HEALTH

Physical Ailments: N/A

Neurological Conditions: Undiagnosed bipolar disorder and PTSD

Allergies: N/A

Sleeping Habits: Marlene doesn’t sleep nearly as much as she should and she refuses to sleep alone. Usually, she’s asleep from about 3am-6am until she hits a night where she crashes for 12+ hours.

Eating Habits: A human garbage disposal, Marlene will eat anything. She’s not picky about what goes in her mouth.

Exercise Habits: Marlene has a physically demanding job, so she works out 5 days a week for at least an hour outside of any work obligations. It also helps with the ‘eating whatever she wants’ thing.

Emotional Stability: 4/10. Marlene is not known for her emotional stability. She’s incredibly impulsive and driven by emotion. She’s also prone to mood swings (undiagnosed bipolar).

Sociability: Marlene needs to be around people. She doesn’t do well when she’s alone.

Body Temperature: She runs hot most of the time, but catches chills easily.

Addictions: No additions, but she does demonstrate dependence on alcohol.

Drug Use: She’ll try anything once. The only drug she uses regularly is weed. On occasion, she’ll roll with Molly or mushrooms. Everything else she’s tried she hasn’t liked enough to do twice.

Alcohol Use: Marlene drinks about 4-5 times a week. Generally, this wouldn’t be an issue, but if she’d drinking on a weekend she drinks hard.

PERSONALITY

Label: The abrasive - The chaotic - The impulsive - The performer

Positive Traits: Brave, easygoing, friendly, quick-witted

Negative Traits: Impulsive, quick-tempered, stubborn, vengeful

Goals/Desires: Marlene’s personal goals in life are just to have a good time and be herself. She’s not really an ambitious person. In an overarching sense, she wants the war to stop and to end the idea of blood purity, but she wouldn’t really have a goal after the fact.

Fears: Marlene is afraid of being alone, intimacy and losing her free will/her sense of self.

Hobbies: Marlene’s biggest hobby is baking. She loves to bake and she’s damn good at it.

Habits: Finger biting (next to the nail), lip biting, eye rolling, nail tapping and touching whoever she’s talking to.

FAVOURITES

Season: Fall

Colour: Blue

Music: Anything with a good beat

Movies: Anything except rom-coms. She really loves horror movies.

Quidditch Team: She doesn’t pay any attention to the professionals.

Beverage: Firewhiskey or a vanilla latte

Food: Anything sweet, especially fruit. Watermelon and cherries are her favorite.

Person: Liam, Mary, Alice, Lily, Gil, James

FAMILY

Father: Abe McKinnon, works at the Department of Mysteries, pureblood.

Mother: Samra McKinnon, used to work at the Office for Improper Use of Magic, now retired. Pureblood.

Sibling(s): Liam McKinnon, older brother

Children: N/A

Pet(s): She’s seriously considering bringing the alley cats with her when she moves. If she does, she’ll have three cats. None of them have names at this time.

Family’s Financial Status: Wealthy

EXTRA

Zodiac Sign: Aries. Cheerful, relentless, turbulent.

MBTI: ESTP

Enneagram: 7w8/8w7 (98% each) The Enthusiast and The Challenger

Temperament: Choleric/Sanguine

Camp Half-blood: Dionysus Cabin

Moral Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Primary Vice: Lust, wrath

Primary Virtue: Kindness

Element: Fire

#praedontask #//This was fun #{ Messy Hair | Messy Mind }#{ about }

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thedeaditeslayer · 5 years

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Living with the Cult Legacy of Evil Dead.

Here’ s a recent interview with Ellen Sandweiss by Den of Geek that discusess The Evil Dead, current cinema, and feminism.

We chat with Ellen Sandweiss, who played Ash Williams' damned sister in The Evil Dead, about a horror legacy nearly 40 years on.

Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead franchise seems to have had at least nine bloody lives. First was the original 1981 movie that propelled lead actor Bruce Campbell and director Sam Raimi to cult cinema stardom, and then there were the sequels (The Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness), the 2013 remake, and even a cable TV show via Ash vs Evil Dead. These low budget efforts, originally labeled as “video nasties” in the UK, became a refuge for film aficionados to revel in macabre humor, bad puns, and practical disembowelment effects that rivaled Tom Savini’s best work.

Less lauded though is the coven of women in the original feature that Campbell’s Ash battles to the death and beyond. In The Evil Dead, Ash drives to the remote cabin in the woods with his girlfriend Linda (Betsy Baker), a few friends, and his sister Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss) for their spring break. Cheryl’s character is the first to notice something awry upon their arrival, the first to suffer at the hands of the demonic entity in the now (in)famous tree rape scene, and the first to be seized by the demonic entity’s possession.

It is really Cheryl’s character on which so much of the narrative’s propulsive force hinges. As a result, she exercises her acting chomps adroitly. Whether frantically attempting to convince her brother and friends that “it was the woods themselves! They’re alive!” or cautiously traversing the dark forest with the whites of her bulging eyes, Sandweiss showcases both Cheryl’s humanity and her intense fear. When she embraces her possession, pus-filled and pawing at hapless Ash, she recalls the witch from Anne Sexton’s poem “Her Kind,” which details a lonely, twelve-fingered evil. “A woman like that is not a woman, quite.”

Sandweiss also was the first non-Campbell actor to reprise a role in the series when she appeared in Ash vs Evil Dead Season 2. Den of Geek spoke with Sandweiss about her acting career, her work with Campbell and Raimi, TimesUp, and if the tree scene would be shot the same way in 2019 as it was almost 40 years ago in the backwoods of Tennessee.

What got you interested in acting? What led to your getting the part of Cheryl in The Evil Dead?

I acted in school plays and local theatre starting in middle school. I come from a very artsy family and was involved in music and dance as well. Then I went to high school in suburban Detroit with Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell and was in plays with them. They had been making super 8 movies since they were in their early teens, so I was often in those movies as a teenager. I then went to college at the University of Michigan where I majored in theatre, and during one summer, we made “Within the Woods,” a short film that Bruce and Sam made to garner interest and money from investors in order to make their first feature film, Book of the Dead, which then became The Evil Dead. Once they had raised the funds, I took a semester off college in ’79 to 80 and we shot the film in Tennessee.

What was your experience like on the set of The Evil Dead? Do you have a favorite memory of shooting the original?

My experience making The Evil Dead was mixed. Of course it was exhilarating at age 20 to be off making a feature film, and the “boys” [Raimi, Campbell, and producer Rob Tapert] were a lot of fun. But the budget was tiny, and it wasn’t a union film, so the conditions were harsh and everyone on the set was very inexperienced. We were all in our early 20s and for many it was our first experience making a feature film. At the Tennessee cabin where we shot most of the film, we had no electricity, no plumbing and no running water—need I say more?

Could you have anticipated, at that time, the kind of cult following that film would have especially with both the remake and TV show?

I could never have anticipated the eventual cult status of the film. When we made The Evil Dead, there was no video rental, no streaming, etc. So films, if they were distributed at all, would end up either at a first-run theater or at a B-movie theater or drive-in, which was where our film landed. Honestly, when we were shooting the film, I thought (and hoped) it would never actually be seen. Then, after a few years, it was released and then it disappeared. I forgot about it and went on with school, then graduate school in arts administration, followed by management jobs in non-profits.

It was when video rentals were born, a few years later, that people started becoming interested in Evil Dead, followed by multiple releases on VHS, then DVD, laser disc, Blu-ray, etc. I didn’t actually realize it had a cult following until around 2001 when my teenaged daughter’s geeky friends started talking about it and ED t-shirts were appearing at local film and comic memorabilia shops. Then we had a 20-year reunion screening, and it was after that that the other two actresses and I started making convention appearances as “Ladies of the Evil Dead.”

What was it like revisiting Cheryl as a character when you did two episodes of Ash vs. Evil Dead?

Revisiting Cheryl in Ash vs the Evil Dead was a hoot! At that point they had a big budget, union rules and lots of experience under their belts, so it was a lot more comfortable. It was fun acting again with Bruce, whom I’ve remained friends with all these years, and of course it was wonderful getting to see New Zealand, where we shot the episodes.

Do you think the tree scene from Evil Dead would be filmed in the same way today as it was done then?

Yes, I’m sure that the tree scene would be done differently if it was filmed today. First, I’m not sure that it would be characterized as a “tree rape,” as Sam has since said he regrets that it ended up that way. I think it would have gone back to what was originally intentioned in the script: trees coming to life and attacking Cheryl, which would also satisfy today’s more feminist audiences (and actresses!). And I’m sure that CGI would be used instead of the reverse-filming, or whatever it’s called, to show vines wrapping around me.

What is it like coming back 35 years later on the show and actually exploring a sibling dynamic?

It was great fun to do Ash vs Evil Dead all these years later and visit the earlier lives of Cheryl and Ash in their family home. In the original film, I believe there was only one line referring to their relationship (“it’s your sister Cheryl!”), and if you missed that you were probably wondering what this weird morose girl was doing on a party weekend with these two college couples! In Ash vs. ED, fighting with Bruce took sibling rivalry to a new level—I loved taunting him and I always enjoy filming a good fight scene. Of course he was the star, so he had to win in the end, but I did enjoy my final words, emanating from my decapitated head on the ground: “Not again....” We actually played around with some other final words—I thought, “Mom always liked you best” would be funny, but nobody seemed to agree with me!

Many people are saying that the horror genre is having a renaissance with hits like Us and Hereditary. What do you think it is about horror that has audiences continually returning to it?

I admittedly am not a horror expert by any stretch of the imagination. I normally don’t watch horror films, but I did watch Us because I love everything Jordan Peele does. I liked it because for the most part it didn’t focus only on blood and guts—there were actually well-formed characters and a message. I think that certain people will always want to explore their dark side, and horror films allow them to do that in a safe space. I also think some people simply like the adrenalin rush they get from being scared.

In the past few years, there's been a lot of discussion around the representation of women on screen. A lot of this conversation seems to be fueled by #MeToo and #TimesUp movement. What’s been your impression of the shifts being made in Hollywood?

I love the shifts being made and hope that they continue to shift even more. Everything about the women’s movement, MeToo, TimesUp, etc. can only make our choices in entertainment better. My daughter is an actress, and I like the improvement of the roles that are available to her. Of course we need more female producers, writers, and directors, and I wish that was happening a little more quickly.

What films have been most exciting to you as an audience member in the past few years?

I’m such a film enthusiast that I really can’t name specific films. But in general, I’m drawn mostly to indie films that make me think, laugh, and cry, and films that cast women in interesting roles.

Do you have any new roles or projects coming up that you can speak about?

No, I’m pretty much retired at this point, although sometimes I will come out of the closet and do a play. Mostly I’m having fun watching the acting careers of my daughter Jessy Hodges and her husband Beck Bennett blossom!

#Ellen Sandweiss #The Evil Dead #Evil Dead

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artificialqueens · 5 years

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In a summer haze - part 1 (branjie) - i-n-o-n

Author’s note

Someone requested branjie camping, so I brought them to summer camp. Constructive criticism very welcome.

This will be the first part, if people want to read more. Let me know.

——————————

It’s really just babysitting.

That’s what Brooke tells herself as she mails her application for the summer counselor job, convincing herself that the only real difference is the amount of kids you’re required to watch. She conveniently neglects to realize the fact that babysitting usually consists of a few hours of letting a child watch TV, while summer camp is eight weeks of 24/7 alertness.

The camp is for girls aged ten through sixteen, and she desperately hopes to get the ten year olds. The older girls have more likely than not been corrupted by the drama of middle school, and will be worried about image and gossip - things that Brooke have moved past long ago, and doesn’t really wish to relive.

When she arrives at the camp she is handed a list by a short, black haired woman with an obscenely large pair of headlights and a look on her face that makes Brooke wonder if she’d just swallowed an entire packet of Warheads. There’s a tall, stoic woman by her side, with large pageant hair that seems highly impractical in their primitive surroundings.

The black haired woman introduces herself as Michelle, and her tone is as sharp as Brooke had assumed it would be upon first glance. She explains how the nine names on the list are the names of the girls that’ll be in Brooke’s cabin, and Brooke’s heart falls as Michelle tells her that they’re all either fifteen or sixteen. Great.

Relief is quick to follow though, as Michelle tells her that they’ve paired all the newbies with a veteran counselor, so she won’t be dealing with it on her own.

Brooke’s veteran is Shuga Martinez; a latin girl with big hair and a perpetual smirk. She’s here for her third summer, although Brooke wouldn’t necessarily have pegged her for a career camp counselor, so to speak. She throws her bags unceremoniously on one of the two twin bunks, eyeing Brooke as she does so. “Ever done this before, Blondie?”

“What?” Brooke is broken from her spell, setting her own bag carefully on her bed. “Oh, not camp, no. But I babysit a little bit…”

“So, no,” she smirks. Or, well, she strengthens her existing smirk. “This should be fun.”

She must sense the way Brooke is starting to shake in her chelsea boots - which she realizes now was a dumb choice of shoewear - because she quickly turns her smirk into a reassuring smile.

“Relax,” she says, placing a hand on Brooke’s shoulder. “I never had any issues I couldn’t solve in a minute. We work together, and we got this.”

“Yeah?” Brooke hates seeming this timid, but she’s coming to the conclusion that she’s gotten herself into waters that she doesn’t know how to navigate.

“Of course, hun,” the nickname spills from Shuga’s lips with ease. “Besides, teenage girls ain’t that bad in the summer.”

——————————

The first morning is spent with the counselors scattered around the gym, which doubles as an auditorium. They’re waiting for either of the camp directors to come and host the intro meeting, even though Brooke can already tell that it’ll probably be Michelle. The actual owner of the camp, mother Ru is what the others call her, seems to be much too busy to actually get her hands dirty, or to get too involved.

Shuga abandons her as soon as they get inside, calling enthusiastic greetings to the other returning counselors. Brooke leans on the edge of the stage, revelling in the relative silence around her. Shuga is a talker, she’s found out, and she hasn’t had a proper chance to slow down and take things in on her own.

Brooke grabs a camp brochure from the box she’s sat next to and flips through it. She takes in the images of campers jumping into the lake, building rafts, playing soccer. It’s as idyllic as what she’d actually seen of the grounds so far, and although she is beyond terrified for the campers to arrive, she finds herself excited to explore all of the activities.

There’s a box of craft supplies in the middle of the stage, and Brooke looks around to see that the majority of the counselors are working on cabin decorations. She grabs a stack of colorful construction paper, a scissor and a few sharpies and settles on the floor. From the pocket of her shorts she digs out the crumbled list of names, and starts writing the girls’ names in big, swooping letters. If nothing else, she can hang it by their bunks to help her remember who’s who.

Her partner doesn’t seem inclined towards decorating - at least not at the moment. She’s sitting on the floor next to an equally smirky girl. Surprisingly, Brooke finds herself staring. The girl is tiny, with wavy, brown hair and a tattoo smattered across her sternum that makes Brooke wonder about the administration’s hiring conditions. There’s an easy, familiar rhythm between her and Shuga that suggests she’s a returning counselor too.

Shuga says something that cracks the other girl up, and Brooke feels an odd sweep of obscure jealousy.

She lets her eyes linger for a moment, hoping Shuga will somehow catch her eye and wave her over to make introductions. It never happens, so Brooke returns her attention to her crafting. She’ll meet everyone later, she figures. It’ll be fine.

Clever and precise as she is, she gives each name card a theme that matches the first letter of each girl’s name, and her perfectionism has her losing herself in the task. When she finally looks up, the girl with the tattoo is standing there and looking over her shoulder, grinning with one side of her mouth. She looks endlessly amused, and Brooke curses her fair skin as she blushes.

“You’re real thorough, huh?” the girl speaks, and her voice is like gravel and tar, taking Brooke by complete surprise. “Good thing you’re stuck with Shuga, she won’t make as much fun of you as the rest of us.”

“I, uh-”

The girl ignores her weak attempt at a sentence, thumbing through the stack of name cards before her with a mock critical eye.

“Whatchu gonna do if this Brooke Lynn bitch is real scared of bumblebees though?” she asks, holding forward one of the cards, delicately dotted with a few tiny bumblebees.

“She’s not.” Brooke sneers, grabbing at the cards. The girl just moves them further away from her reach, flipping to the next.

“What if Caitlyn don’t like cats? She could be allergic or some shit.” she continues, and Brooke rolls her eyes playfully. “Or what if Sarah-”

“If Sarah doesn’t like sunshine, she’s coming to the wrong place,” Brooke bites back, and the other girl’s brows go flying upwards at the sudden retaliation. She looks pleased above all else.

“You win that one, girl,” she admits, before eyeing Brooke with a judging lilt of the head. “But really, mami, trees? Why not turtles or tigers-”

“We’re surrounded by trees, I felt inspired.”

“-tequila?”

In one sweep motion, Brooke snatches the papers from her, ducking her head in a vain attempt to hide her stupid, treacherous smile.

When she looks back up, the girl is still grinning at her with keen fascination, hands folded behind her back.

“I’m Vanessa,” she says, her first words that don’t hold an ounce of teasing to them. “Most folks call me Vanjie, though.”

“Nice to meet you, Vanessa,” Brooke says, feeling the syllables of Vanessa’s name scratch at her throat before she speaks them. “I’m Brooke Lynn.”

She’s suddenly mindful that the bumblebee card has landed on the top of the stack. Vanessa’s eyes grow wide as she follows the direction of Brooke’s own stare.

“Oh,” she says, chuckling. “And you ain’t afraid of bumblebees.”

“Indeed I’m not,” Brooke is now the one smirking, and she finally feels like she has the upperhand in this conversation.

“You make one for Shuga too?” Vanessa asks, nodding in Shuga’s direction as she sits on the floor alongside the other counselors. “Cause she won’t tell you, but she’d appreciate the shit outta that.”

“I didn’t,” Brooke suddenly realizes, flicking through the papers. “You want to help me make one?”

“I ain’t no good with arts and crafts,” she admits, although she does sit down across from Brooke. “I fudge off of the pretty girls with the good hands, ya dig?”

Brooke laughs and Vanessa looks smug about it, but really Brooke is stuck on the pretty. Although she has a lingering feeling that she’s not the first girl Vanessa has said that to, she finds that she doesn’t really care.

Michelle chooses that moment to finally make her appearance, sauntering in from the left side of the stage with a clipboard in her hands. Her nails make an insufferable clicking noise as she taps her fingertips against the cardboard. She orders everyone off stage, even though it really only is Vanessa and Brooke, and they file into three rows of folding chairs.

As she berates them and warns them that parents could start arriving within the hour, Vanessa looks Brooke’s way and rolls her eyes exaggeratedly. As if Michelle had been the one kept in waiting.

——————————

On the small porch of their cabin, Shuga and Brooke await their campers, giving Brooke her very first chance to see everyone else’s cabin matchups. Visible from their porch is the cabins of the girls she’d managed to meet briefly following Michelle’s “pep talk.”

There’s Silky and Yvie, whom she’s been informed are more rivals than anything else. Apparently there’s a bet going around about who’ll request a switch of cabin firs. Then there’s Scarlet and Ariel, Mercedes and Soju, and Ra’Jah and Honey.

The cabin neighboring their own was occupied by Plastique and Nina, two girls that Brooke had immediately hit it off with. Nina looked much older than the others, towering over even Brooke who was a considerably tall girl to start with.

Most notably though, if you ask Brooke, was the cabin across the small stretch of grass from their own. It was Vanessa and A’keria’s, and between Vanessa’s tattoos and A’keria’s staff shirt that was tucked into a pair of high waisted, cut off shorts, paired with huge gold earrings: they were shaping up to be the cool cabin.

Brooke starts to feel the nerves the second the first kid appears on the lawn, carrying a tiny little suitcase and with her blonde hair in an adorable set of pig tails. Michelle directs her towards Nina and Plastique’s cabin - the lucky bastards got the ten year olds.

More kids appear, and as she thinks she’s about to be swept into chaos, she catches Vanessa looking straight at her.

“Get ready,” the girl shouts. “We only just getting started!”

And she’s right.

Once it starts, everything moves fast.

——————————

Every single Sunday, including their very first night, the kids line up to sign up for activities to do throughout the week. They have to do at least six a day, and Brooke is pretty sure it’s mainly meant to tire them out so there’s no hassle come bedtime.

The counselors receive their assignments on Sundays too, and much like the kids they rotate through activities, taking turn monitoring them in groups of two or three. They circle through the girls that way, instead of merely getting to know those that live in their cabins.

Brooke is relieved to find out, on that very first night, that to fifteen and sixteen year olds, she is the epitome of knowledge and experience. They ask her about boys, mainly, and she shoots Shuga a knowing look. The other girl immediately takes over, not seeming surprised in the least when Brooke tells her she’s gay as they’re lying in their bunks later.

Within the first week, Brooke gets to do every outdoor activity her mother had always warned her against - she hikes, kayaks, swims in the lake although it’s riddled with tiny fish and possibly leeches. She plays dodgeball and soccer and ultimate frisbee, and tie-dyes a T-shirt in the colors of the rainbow.

They eat three meals a day in the main hall, she and Shuga at the heads of a wooden table with their girls on either side, talking over each other and asking questions so often that Brooke rarely gets to finish an entire meal.

Once a week, dinner turns into a special occasion. The camp cook, Ross, cooks on the massive grills by the lakeside, and the girls sit on picnic blankets and tend to stay there all night.

That is, until they move to the campfire.

The campfire is lit every single night, with no exceptions. The counselors take turns lighting it, and Brooke thanks the lord she had the mind to stay with the girl scouts for more than just a week. It saves her from complete embarrassment. It does help her self-esteem to see the ever confident Vanessa try to constrain a string of swears as her matches somehow get wet, and the lighter runs out of gas.

Around the fire, songs are sung and ghost stories are told. They roast s’mores and pass around bags of chips and juicepacks. Brooke watches the girls sing and giggle, and regrets never going to camp herself.

Within days, the counselors start to accumulate an excessive amount of handcrafted jewelry, and cabin pride blooms furiously. Handshakes are invented, chants are written down, and Plastique and Nina’s cabin comes up with a rap that Brooke can only describe as suburbian.

By day three, the girls in Vanessa and A’keria’s cabin are wearing hoop earrings and red lipstick. Michelle surprisingly doesn’t tell them to quit it, but merely looks on disapprovingly. That doesn’t make anyone stop.

Yvie, who Brooke quite frankly hadn’t trusted around children at first glance, has a ten year old permanently stuck to her hip, even though she’s not even assigned to her cabin.

Brooke and Shuga have established personas that the girls find hilarious. Brooke plays he clueless newbie, and Shuga yells at her morning and night that she needs to clean her shit up so she can find her reading glasses. They call her nana, and the nickname is soon used by everyone at the camp.

She loves their kids, every single one. Even though Caitlyn literally never stops babbling on about her stupid dog. She loves how pleased they look as they present her with beaded bracelets and the way they engage her in their own elaborate handshake every time they see her. She doesn’t even mind how long it takes them to get ready in the morning as they fight at the mirrors, applying makeup that they’ll sweat off within the hour.

Camp life is structured around set routines, and the counselors have their own too. Every night, Shuga and Brooke sit on the floor between their beds and play Connect Four or Tic-tac-toe, until the giggles on the other side of the wall fade.

Then they head outside.

All of the counselors gather outside on the large stretch of grass that connects their cabins. They lounge in the dewy grass, passing around bottles of wine or liquor. These hours are usually Brooke’s very favorite, as the summer heat turns from aggressive to pleasant, and the grounds grow quiet. They exchange stories of what their campers have said, and things they’ve experienced at home.

Most times, when someone makes a joke, Brooke catches herself looking at Vanessa, no matter where she is in the circle. It shouldn’t make sense, that she is the one that Brooke gravitates to.

But then again, whenever Brooke looks her way, Vanessa seems to be staring right back at her.

She likes all of the girls, although she thinks Ra’Jah is too sensitive, and Silky is too loud. She’s forging genuine friendships with every passing day. Still, Vanessa is the one she finds herself looking for in a crowd. She’s who she wants to connect with, as if she is being guided to her by some divine light or force. If you believe in that kind of crap.

No matter where they are, Vanessa always shines the brightest.

So why shouldn’t Brooke look at her? Seeing as she makes everyone else blur around the edges.

Seeing as she’s Vanessa.

#rpdr fanfiction #branjie #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #fluff #humor #summer camp au #lesbian au #in a summer haze #i n o n #concrit welcome #submission

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straykidsmusings · 5 years

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Summer Paradise - Mark Lee

Pairing: Mark Lee & Y/N Words: 5.8k+ Genre: Fluff Warning(s): none, maybe a few swears Summary: y/n comes back to summer camp as a counsellor, so does her childhood enemy, what happens when they’re forced to share a room for the summer?

You drove down the familiar dirt road on your way to camp. You have been going there since you were young, growing to love the large wooden cabins with the soft ripples of the lake that curved around one side of the camp grounds.

When you became too old to attend the actual camp last year you decided to apply as a camp counsellor, hoping to inspire and help as many campers as your counsellors had over the years.

You parked your car, taking your beat-up suitcase that you had used every summer since you were eleven. Walking up to the large main cabin that had the head counsellors’ offices and opened the glass door. “Y/n!” Diane, the owner of the camp called when she saw you, getting up to give you a long overdue squeeze. “Sorry I’m a bit late, there was so much traffic, I hope I haven’t missed anything important.” You said, pulling back from the long hug, looking slightly guilty. “No its alright Hun, everyone is just getting settled, campers should be arriving in a couple of hours so just get comfy in your cabin. Your other counsellor is already there, you should recognize him, he’s just like you. Couldn’t get away from us.” She said, telling you which cabin you were in and sending you on your way.

Your camp had always been a bit different from the other ones, it was very large, a seemingly never-ending lake and the cabins were larger than some people’s own homes. However, the camp was not for ‘rich kids’, whose parents were lawyers and accountants, not in the slightest. The owners of the camp, Diane, and Gabriel had a son who went to a summer camp each year but unfortunately developed tumours in his brain. During the last couple of painful and hard last months of his life he asked his parents to set up their own camp. News got out and many donations were made by people all around the country, making it into the camp ground they had today. The cabins each have two bedrooms, one big one filled with bunk beds for the kids and one room with two beds for the two counsellors for each cabin. They had a small living room area and kitchen, two main bathrooms, a girls and a boys one, and one smaller bathroom connected to the counsellors’ bedroom.

You walked up the wooden steps and into the house looking cabin. You walked over to the door of your soon to be bedroom for the next two months, walking backwards into it, dragging your suitcase behind you. “Late on the first day huh? Tut tut, thought you were always perfect at everything princess.” You heard the piercingly familiar voice mock you. Turning your head towards the noise you saw the boy you wanted to see the least this summer.

“Mark?”

~*~

You and Mark arrived at the camp on the same year. You were a very shy and quiet child, just getting on with everything you were given, not wanting to bother anyone. Mark was always loud, not wanting to participate in any of the activities and always pulling pranks on the other campers, you being his main target. He loved to put itching powder in your things, throw water balloons on your art work so it was ruined and hiding the most important things to you. Over the summers every year you both had attended camp, you had never properly spoken to him, trying to stay under the radar and far away from his cruel glares and mocking actions. So now that you had to share not only a cabin but a bedroom with him you weren’t sure if you could handle it. After getting your things on to the remaining empty bed and leaving the cabin as quickly as possible, you went to find who the other counsellors were in the near-by cabins.

Not long after you had finished calling into the other counsellors’ cabins, the campers started to arrive in the large green near the front of the camp. You walked over to the new arrivals, standing beside Diane who had multiple clipboards in her hand. She passed one to you with our cabin number at the top with a list of eight or so names on it. “Go find them if they’re here, get Mark to help you.” she said, turning back to the worried looking parents in front of her. You walked over to where the rest of your co-workers for the next couple of months were, who were holding similar clipboards to yours. You all stood in a line as campers were directed over to you.

~*~

You both eventually got all your campers and hauled all their luggage up to your home for 2 months. After getting them all situated and calmed down you walked back down to the green for some team building exercises.

It’s been hours since you arrived, and you hadn’t spoken to Mark yet, but you knew you had to for your campers. You walked to the back of the line of your kids, to where Mark was walking in a slight day-dream. “Mark.” you said, walking in step with him and trying to get his attention. “What?” he said, moving slightly away from you. “We need to at least pretend that we get along for this hour that we’re doing this okay? Please? For the kids?” you said, looking ahead of you at your campers that were talking and joking around. He glanced at you, his eyes meeting yours but only briefly. “Fine.” he grumbled, looking back at the ground.

That truce didn’t last as long as you hoped.

After half an hour, you had finished one activity and started a new one. You had two chairs and had to get your whole cabin from one point to the other. Everyone, campers, and counsellors. You had your ideas, and apparently Mark had his. You couldn’t really tell because he was just shouting at you, something you didn’t respond well to. “Will you shut up for a minute!” you snapped, slightly shocking your campers and Mark, who promptly shut his mouth. “Lay out the chair flat, get two people to stand on it, get the other one to be in front of it, then move to that one etc.” you said simply, looking up at him, “It’s not that hard.” “Oh look at you miss know it all.” he said, but laid out the chairs the way you said.

You had got all the kids over and now only you two were left. Obviously, you both didn’t think that through too well, not working well with each other at all. There was pushing and shoving but you both eventually made it to the other side, the first entire cabin to make it.

~*~

It was late on now after a tiring first day, but everyone was sat in a circle in the living room area, pjs on and teddies being cuddled. You both had decided that it would be good idea for everyone to get to know each other because you will be damned if your campers don’t get along with each other. “Hello, as you know I’m Mark, I’m 19, my favourite colour is blue and I really like dessert and dogs. But not together, obviously not together…” he trailed off, earning a few chuckles from the campers. “Hi, I’m y/n, I’m also 19, my favourite colour is red and I really like dogs and drawing.” you said, not knowing what kind of thing to say. Next a tiny girl with baby pink pjs and a slight tattered elephant clutched in her hand spoke from next to Mark, “I’m Rose, I’m 5 and I like puppies and, um, hugs.” she mumbled quietly. You barely heard her, but you were happy when you saw Mark run his comparatively large hand over her back comfortingly. A taller boy next to her started to talk when he understood that she was finished. “Hi! I’m Oliver, I’m 6 and I love trains and the stars.” he said enthusiastically, but very loudly. He reminded you of someone, but you couldn’t place who it was.

The rest of the kids spoke, and you eventually got everyone into their beds, giving everyone who wanted one, a hug and a cuddle, reassuring them that this will be the best summer ever.

You walked out of the room last, closing the door quietly behind you, being surprised that Mark was holding the door of your room open, waiting for you to walk through. You whispered a small thank you, shuffling over to your bed in the far corner and pulling back the covers and getting under them and laying on your side so you were facing the wall away from Mark.

You lay there for a while, unable to get to sleep due to thinking about how the next 2 months are going to pan out with both you and Mark hating each other. “I’m sorry.” you heard a soft voice say, obviously thinking that you were asleep. So, you pretended you were, not being able to deal with this right now.

~*~

You woke up to the soft sun on your skin, the fluffy blanket over you. You looked at your phone seeing it was 8am, and you needed to get up soon because breakfast was at 9 and you had to get everyone up and ready. You got up, putting your clothes on and applying some light makeup and walked out of your door, letting Mark sleep for a bit longer.

Walking into the kid’s room you slowly started waking them up, getting them to start getting dressed despite how sleepy they might be. It was now quarter to nine and you went back to your room, seeing that Mark was still sleeping, cuddled up to his pillow, hair messy against his forehead and blankets strewn to the bottom of his bed. Revealing him in just his black boxers.

You walked over, placing your hand on his shoulder, rubbing slightly, knowing this was the only way to get anyone up without them being pissed off at you. “Hey, Mark, we need to get up now, breakfast is in fifteen minutes.” you said, unable to hold back your small smile when he raised his head slightly, looking like a lost kitten. “Oh, okay,” he said in his morning voice, husky and a lot deeper than usual.

Breakfast was a tired one, everyone including the owners looked like they were about to fall into their bowls of cereal. But soon everyone cheered up at the mention of doing activities in the lake.

You leisurely walked back to the cabin, looking for your bikini in the depths of your bag when you got to your room. Finding it, you went into the bathroom, securely locking it behind you so that Mark doesn’t suddenly get a surprise. Putting some shorts and a thin t-shirt over the top, you left the room and went to help any of the campers that needed it.

You were walking at the back of your group, Mark near the middle with the small girl you learned yesterday to be Rose, holding on tightly to his hand. You were in a daydream when you heard a young male voice shouting. Looking up, you saw that Oliver was standing shouting at Mark saying how he didn’t want to go swimming, that he just wanted to play on his DS and sit in the shade.

Looking back at you with pleading eyes, Mark tried to calm the small boy down but had a hard time with all the shouting and the small girl clinging to his hand. You walked briskly over to where all your other campers had made a circle around them, shooing them off to go down to the lake with another counsellor. You knelt beside him, putting your hand on the small of his back. “Hey buddy, what’s wrong huh?” you asked softly, making small circles with your hand. “I don’t wanna go swimming.” he said, looking at you, tears beginning to swim in his eyes, “Wanna play on my DS.” he sniffed.

You looked up at Mark, nodding your head, signalling that he could go down to the Lake with Rose. You stood up and brought him over to a bench under a tree. “So there’s no other reason why you don’t want to go swimming?” you asked carefully, not wanting to upset the boy. Slowly he shook his head, seeming unsure. “You sure?” you asked again. He mumbled an answer so quietly you couldn’t hear him at all. “What’s that?” “I-I can’t swim…” he said quietly but still louder than last time. He looked up at you, tiny silent tears running down his face.

“Hey, it’s alright, I’m going to be there, I’ll make sure you’re safe and we can stay near the side, so you don’t have to go far to get out? Does that sound okay? We can even bring your DS along with us and I can set it with our towels so when you’ve had enough you can still play it. Okay?” you said, looking down at the boy, rubbing the ending tears off his face.

He smiled slightly, jumping up to go get his DS, but skidded to a stop and ran back to you, wrapping his arms around you in a hug before saying a small “thank you” and running off again.

You walked back down to the lake for the second time this morning, however the noise got louder the closer you got to it, Oliver’s small hand encased in yours, his white DS in your other hand because he was scared he would drop it. You both walked up to some other counsellors sitting on a low wall who were talking and observing things happening in the lake. “You know she’s exactly like a younger version of y/n right?” you over heard Scott say to Mark. He looked down at the side of the lake where Rose was sitting chatting to her friends with her feet dipping in and out of the water. “Mmm, maybe, but I don’t really see it.” he replied. “Dude, they’re exactly the same and you know it.”

You walked in front of the wall, pretending you didn’t hear anything that was just said. “Everything sorted?” Mark asked you, noticing the DS in your hand and frowning slightly. “Yeah everything is alright isn’t it Ollie, we’re going to go have some fun but if he doesn’t like it he can come sit with you guys and play, can’t he?” you said, making pleading eyes that they would go along with it.

The boys nodded, taking the small device out of your hand along with your towels. You weren’t exactly sure why Mark wasn’t being mean, but you certainly were not going to complain.

You took off your top and shorts so that you would only have your bikini on and put them in a small pile at the boys’ feet. You walked down to the edge of the lake, walking in slowly, getting used to the temperature of water. You eventually got up to your thighs and turned around and held out your hand to come with you. “It’s alright little man, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

As soon as you were out of earshot all Mark could hear was the other male counsellors talking about you. “Mate, it must be great being in a room with her.” Scott said, clapping him on the back. “If you’re not going to do that, I will.” Theo, another counsellor, said. “I don’t understand how you two haven’t banged yet, you’ve known each other, what? Five years or something? With a body like that I’m surprised you haven’t just looked over your differences.” another one said.

Mark looked down at you, you did look gorgeous, more beautiful than anyone he had ever seen, and he wondered why he hadn’t noticed earlier. But that was no excuse. “Its eight.” He said, not looking away from you. “What?” “I’ve known her for eight years. And she’s a girl, not something you can sit and stare at like wolves with their prey. She’s a girl with feelings, and a brain.” Mark said, jumping off the wall and walking down to where you were with Oliver.

You had got Oliver into the water and he was now bobbing about on his own, however stayed within a metre radius of you.

“Hey y/n.” you heard a female voice say. Turning around you saw Alex, another female counsellor, standing a bit behind you, starting to wade towards you. “You know he is exactly like Mark.” she said after a while, after the conversation had faded into silence. Looking at her confused, “Who is.” “Oliver.” she said simply. “Oh.” you said, not really knowing how to reply to that. Before you could say anything else or really properly think you were swiftly interrupted by Mark. “How is everyone? Everything good?” he asked, rushed, looking slightly annoyed. “Uh yeah.”

~*~

It was now coming to the end of week two, tomorrow was Monday, well, in a few hours it was Monday, and you had just had a call from your mother. Like all conversations with her it didn’t end well.

The kids had gone to bed a couple of hours ago and you were now walking towards your favourite place, a small bench near the side of the lake. The moon shone down onto the cool water, the stars lighting up the dark sky. You hated fighting, whether it be with your mother, or anyone else, you hated shouting, you hated arguing full stop. You didn’t notice the tears falling down your cheeks until one dropped onto the back of your hand in front of you.

You felt like you had been there for hours when you heard someone walk through the sparse trees behind you. “Shi-Fuck-Ow.” You turned your head to see Mark trying to duck under a tree branch but it had got caught in his messy hair. A small giggle escaped your lips at the sight of the boy and his battle with the twisted tree branch.

When he eventually got free he came and sat beside you, putting legs either side of the seat so that he could face you comfortably. “You okay?” he asked quietly, seeing the tear tracks on your face and from hearing bits and pieces of the conversation earlier on the phone. You shook your head slightly, saying simply, “Mother.” He understood. He really did. “Want to talk about it?” he asked softly, moving slightly closer to you but not wanting to invade your personal space. “No its okay, maybe later.” you said, turning to look at him. “So how come you’re here?” “Came to talk everything out, the past eight years.” he said, sighing. Not knowing where to begin he ran his hand through his hair, looking at his feet for inspiration. “I heard you, you know.” you said, looking down as well. “Heard what?” he said, confused. “The first night we were here, you thought I was asleep but I wasn’t, you said sorry.” “Oh. How come you didn’t say anything?” “I didn’t know if you wanted me to know it or not so…”

You both sat for a couple of hours talking everything out. Why he hated you, apparently it was because you seemed to be the best at everything and he just wanted to be like you, just wanted to get something right for once. Which was why he was sent to camp in the first place. Another thing you both talked about. His parents apparently couldn’t put up with him anymore and just wanted him gone for 2 months every year. You explained why you were there; your grandparents didn’t want you to be about your parents screaming at each other for longer than you had to, so they sent you here. You explained to him that that is why people assumed you were the 'perfect child’, because you didn’t want to bother anyone because when you do at home you just get shouted at. That also explained why you hated people yelling, there was too much of that at home and you just wanted quiet.

After a lot of talking and tears and hugs on both of your parts you walked back to your cabin. When you came through the door you saw little Oliver with his arms around a tiny looking Rose, both sleeping on the sofa, her small elephant teddy grasped tightly in her hands. You lightly hit Mark on the arm, not wanting him to accidentally wake them up from their slumber. “Hey, ow, what?” “Look at them.” you whispered, pointing to the cute bundle in the corner of the sofa.

He looked over your shoulder to the small sleeping heap and a warm smile graced his beautiful face. You both walked closer to them, slowly becoming concerned because you noticed tear tracks down Rose’s tiny cheeks.

You woke them up slowly and softly, seeing them look confused for a minute but then realization came to them, Rose opening up her arms for Mark to take her. After both of them were situated on your laps you asked what had happened. “Rosie was crying because she missed home so I took her down here to see one of you but you weren’t here so we hugged on the sofa because she was sad and we were gonna wait until one of you got back but I guess we fell asleep.” Oliver said in one breath, afraid they were going to get in trouble for being up after they were meant to be in bed.

You felt him cuddle into you, as Rose did the same to Mark, both obviously tired from the late hour. “You okay bub?” he asked the shy girl in his arms, rubbing small shapes on her back. She nodded but hid her head in his neck in tiredness. “How about you come sleep with us so no one gets sad?” he said, looking up at you.

Nodding, you lifted the sleepy boy on your lap onto your hip and followed Mark into your own room. He set Rose on your bed, pushing it over so that your and his beds were connected, making her giggle at the small ride she was given. You set Oliver onto Mark’s bed and both you and Mark went to the bathroom quickly to change into your pjs.

When you got back you found them cuddled up in the middle of your beds under the blankets. You slipped in beside Rose, her immediately cuddling into you when she felt the bed dip. Mark and Oliver being the same.

~*~

It was now a couple of days later and your beds hadn’t moved back to normal yet, despite no children needing to sleep with the comfort of other people. It had been a horrible day so you spent time in the hall doing some crafts with the kids, not risking it outside in case it rained.

However, it did not start to rain until the night time, and oh boy, did it rain. The ever-quickening droplets were hitting your window with such a force you were afraid that it was going to either leak or shatter, which ever came first.

You were laying in your bed, almost complete body underneath the blankets, trying not to be too loud with your whimpers in case you woke up Mark. But of course, that was short lived when the thunder and lightning started.

You let out a loud whimper from the back of your throat, going further under the blankets so that you couldn’t be seen from outside of it. You felt the other bed creak a bit and the blankets lifted off of you, Mark’s head popping in. “You okay under there?” he said in a joking tone. Not able to speak you spook your head rapidly, curling in on yourself to create an even smaller ball.

His large hand came down and ran his fingers through your hair, trying to calm you down, he crawled under the blankets with you, wrapping his strong arms around you and cuddling you into his chest. “This okay princess?” he whispered, moving his hand back to card his fingers through your hair. You nodded, uncurling yourself from the ball you had made and curling yourself around him. Your head on his chest, arm wrapped tightly around his middle and legs tangled together. You fell asleep after a small kiss was placed on the top of your head.

~*~

It had been a week since the thunder and lightning incident and you both just cuddled every night anyway, you both realized that you slept better with each other than not. Things were different, Mark was nice, sometimes overly nice and it was because he was trying to make up for lost time. He made flirty comments occasionally and every single time it made you blush.

It was your first day off since the camp had started, a warm Saturday. Each cabin counsellors had one day each but could only go with the other person in their cabin, which luckily for you, you and Mark were very much getting along.

You woke up to a heavy weight on top of you, a voice talking in your ear. “Get up y/n, get uuuuuppppppp. I’ve planned a whole day, don’t ruin it by staying in bed you lazy lump.” it said, far too close to your ear.

Groaning, you turned over despite the weight on top of you and snuggled your head into the pillow. The weight which you learned to be Mark from his too loud voice, sat up so he was sitting on your lower back and started kneading small circles into your back and shoulders. At that you couldn’t help but let out a small moan. “Careful princess, don’t want anyone to think we’re doing anything inappropriate in here do we?” he whispered in your ear, still making shapes on your very tense shoulders.

You eventually made it out of bed, got clothes and makeup on and out to his car, slumped in the passenger seat, still ready to go to sleep if you had the chance. He hadn’t told you were you were going or what you were doing but you trusted him enough that he would plan a lovely day.

Finally, you arrived, the beautiful sand and sea is the first thing you lay your eyes on. Getting out, you both walked over to the railing, breathing in the fresh sea air. Mark took a small backpack out of the trunk of his car, locked it, and walked down to the small grass area, sitting down, and bringing out a few nicely made sandwiches and bottles of Coke. You looked at him curiously, not thinking he could make sandwiches as nice as that. “Diane.” was all he said, and it made sense.

After a lovely lunch, you packed up and went for a walk along the sand, talking about everything but also nothing at all. You were in a small daydream when you felt a warm hand slip beside yours, interlocking your fingers together. You glanced up at him, seeing a cute pink colour gracing his cheeks. He looked down quickly before he peeked up at you. “Is this okay?” he asked, not wanting to scare you away. You nodded your head, squeezing his hand softly in reassurance, loving the way it felt in yours.

It was nearly the end of the day, you had gotten ice creams, played in the park like the overgrown children that you are, and you were now driving back to camp, the sun setting blissfully behind you.

When you arrived, everyone had gone on a walk around the lake, so you had the cabin to yourselves for a while. You walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water, you reached up to get the tall glasses in the far up cupboard, which apparently was too far away because as soon as your fingers caught on the side of the glass, it fell to the ground with a heart-breaking shatter. Mark ran in seeing you in the middle of a sea of broken glass, only a pair of thin socks on your feet. He walked over, lifting you out of the broken glass and set you on the worktop beside the sink. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did it cut you? What happened?” he asked all at once, not leaving time to breathe. “I have a small cut on my finger but it’s okay.” you said, going to hop down off the counter. He held you where you were by the waist telling you to not move and that he’ll be back in a minute.

He arrived back not long after he left, a tiny pink plaster in his hand, Disney princesses gracing the front of it. He stood in between your legs, running the finger under some cold water and gently applied the plaster, bringing it to his lips for a small kiss afterwards. “Gotta kiss is better, okay y/n.” he said, a small smile on his lips.

He then swept up all the broken glass, even hoovering after that to make sure everything was gone, but made sure that you stayed where you were. After he finished he made his way back between your legs, playing with your tiny hands in his massive ones. He moved his hands from yours to around your back, placing his head in your neck, giving you a very loving hug. He squeezed you one last time, placing a small kiss where his head was cuddled into on your throat, and he leaned back to look into your eyes. “Can I kiss you?” he asked carefully and quietly, not wanting to ruin the mood at all.

You nodded your head slightly, closing your eyes briefly and letting out a shaky breath. He leaned forward slowly, giving you time to say no if you changed your mind. But you didn’t, meeting him in the middle and your lips met. It was still for a moment, everything moving in slow motion as you kissed your childhood enemy, lips moving slowly against each other. After a while you both pulled back, and he rested his forehead on yours, glancing up into your eyes, smiles on both of your lips.

~*~

The rest of the summer was filled with cuddles in bed, shared earphones while you were laying in the sun beside the lake, secret kisses and hand holding shared between you when you thought no one was looking and a few awkward moments… You had been woken up by Oliver and Rose at your door, shouting that it was time to get up and play. You had lifted your head up from your pillow, signalling to them that you were awake. But just you wasn’t enough, they wanted the stretched out boy that was clinging to you from behind to get up as well. “Come on Mark, we need to get up.” you whispered to him, still seeing the two children relentlessly standing at the door, unwilling to move from it until they see you both up and not going to go back to sleep. “I cant.” he whispered in your ear. Confusedly you asked, “Why not?”

He didn’t answer verbally, but when he moved closer to you, you realized why. Laughing slightly you looked at the kids at your door, “Why don’t you both go play and I’ll make sure Mark gets up okay?” you say. They nodded eagerly, shutting the door behind them.

You laughed properly now, hearing a small groan from behind you. “It’s not funny.” he said, pouting at you like a child. “It kind is.” you said, turning your head to smile at him. “Well it’s your fault.” he said bluntly, cuddling his head into your neck. “Well I mean I can take care of it if you want?” you whispered, smirking at his surprised face.

~*~

“They’re going to be fine y/n.” he said, driving down the dirt road you hadn’t been down in years. “I know, I know but I worry about them. They’re so small.” you replied. You arrived in the busy car park where cars were being unloaded of kids and their luggage. You got out of the car whenever it stopped, opening the back door for your twins to get out, Mark getting the two suitcases from the trunk of the car. You all walked over to the line of counsellors, letting them find theirs on their own. “Daddy! We found them!” they called, leading us over to two counsellors, around the age of 19. “Mark? Y/n?” they said. You both looked up, “Ollie? Rose?” They nodded their heads eagerly, rushing over to you to give you hugs. “So how have you been?” You asked them. “Well, we’ve been coming here every year since you had us, and now we’ve decided to become counsellors so we can be just like you.” Rose answered, winking at you.

You saw Oliver slip his hand into hers, and you let out a small squeal. “Look how cute!” you said to Mark, him also smiling when he noticed. “You better be treating lil bub good, okay Ollie?” he said to him, still being protective of Rose after all these years. “Yes sir.” he said, jokingly saluting him. “How have you two been?” Rose asked.

“Well, we got married eight years ago, then these two came along.” Mark laughed, messing with your daughter’s hair. “Zoe, Isaac, this is Rose and Oliver. We used to be their counsellors when they were your age.”

They gave him a small nod, and you continued with your conversation. “Baby Finn is at his auntie’s, and now this little one is on its way,” Mark8 continued, rubbing your tummy slowly. You looked up at them to see surprise on their faces, “That’s a lot of kids for such a short space of time.” Rose mentioned.

“Well, this one is irresistible, can you blame me?” he smiled, putting his arm around your shoulder and giving it a small squeeze. “Well, we better get going,” you said, leaning down as much as you could to give both your kids long hugs, “We’ll miss you.” They walked hand in hand with Rose and Oliver, over to their cabin. You walked back to the car, seeing small tears form in Mark’s eyes. You wrapped your arms around him securely, letting him burrow his head into your neck like he has been doing for the past fourteen years. “I love you.” he mumbled, a small patch of wetness gathering on your shoulder.

“I love you too.”

#mark #mark lee #mark lee imagines #nct #nct imagines #fluff

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writethelifeyouwant · 5 years

Text

Repeat After Me: I Need A Vacation

Characters: Spencer, JJ and family, Emily, Luke, Tara, Rossi, Penelope, OFC

Word Count: 2014

Warnings: Fluff and friendship :)

Summary: I was on vacation and then I was thinking about what they would be like on vacation and then I pushed my loneliness and need for love onto Spencer and this is essentially gonna be super fluffy and probably corny and just roll with it. Am open to taking constructive criticism as well as scenario suggestions! Because I have some semblance of plot laid out but that pesky middle bit is non existent at the moment. So enjoy your fluffy team bonding on a beach with eventual Spencer love interest! This work is cross posted on AO3 and FFN.

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“In light of the recent events, I’m putting your team on mandatory leave. Six weeks. Starting now.” AD Barnes’ voice was strict, and emphatically not to be argued with. However, it betrayed her lack of profiling experience, because convincing Prentiss that she and her team needed a vacation was not what one would call a challenge at this point in time. They had been kicked so hard recently, Emily knew she needed to get her team out of the heat for a while. Or, she thought, into the heat depending on where they decide to go get that vacation.

“Thank you ma’am.” Emily nodded and exited the de-briefing as swiftly as she could without being obvious that her goal was to get as far away from Barnes as quickly as possible. She called the elevator bring her back down to the bullpen and her team. Even though she had dismissed them, Emily was sure not a one had left, and they were anxiously waiting on Barnes’ assessment of their most recent arrest. It hadn’t gone smoothly, per se, and the team could feel the ragged nerves hanging in the air between them.

They were huddled around JJ’s and Spencer’s desks, speaking in hushed tones of worry, anticipating the worst their sentence might result in. Luke seemed to exude the most obvious jittery energy. He’d never been on the wrong side of the establishment before he joined the BAU, and he hadn’t accustomed himself to the trips to the principal’s office quite yet.

Knowing her news was actually a positive scenario, Emily stopped short of the group and savoured their pregnant silence before she granted them their reprieve. “Six weeks mandatory leave guys.” The concurrent exhales soared through the air at her announcement and the giddy high of relief surged through the assembled agents. Garcia and JJ actually made small fist pumping motions before tapping each others’ knuckles. Matt, Luke and Tara exchanged relieved smiles, and Rossi just settled back more firmly in his chair, flipping through his phone. Spencer was the only one who still looked vaguely irritated. He didn’t know how to stop working as effectively as his team mates. Emily smiled brightly, her eyes shining in an echo of her team’s consolation.

“Okay everyone, get out of here!” Emily made shooing motions, and she didn’t have to tell them twice. The gaggle began to gather their belongings and filter towards the elevators in pairs and trios.

“Does anyone want to get pizza?” Garcia threw out the option as they crowded an unwise number of team mates into the elevator cabin.

“Oh I could murder a pepperoni right now,” Emily’s voice leaked with what might be considered an inappropriate amount of desire based on the conversation topic.

“We can order to my place? Girls night?” Penelope reached out for JJ’s hand and swivelled around to catch Tara’s eyes.

“If you have wine to go with that pizza then I’m in,” Tara smiled. “JJ?”

“I think I can spare some time before I get back to my boys,” she weighed. “They’re about to be stuck with helicopter mom for six weeks after all.”

“All right, girls to Garcia’s!” Emily shouted as they filed out of the elevator in the parking garage. “Any boys want to petition for an exception?” Emily called walking backwards to her car.

“Not tonight,” Rossi called back. “You ladies have fun.”

“I’ve got my own ladies’ night waiting for me at home, but thanks!” Matt chuckled.

“Spence, Alvez?” JJ prodded.

“You know what, I think I’m gonna go see the new Avengers movie,” Luke answered checking his watch. “I didn’t think I’d be home for the release but it’s only nine, plenty of time to wait in line.” The girls all laughed as the characteristic excited puppy expression crept onto Luke’s face. “Reid, how ‘bout it?”

“You know what, why not.” Reid nodded and adjusted his bag on his shoulder. “Text me the theatre address?”

“Done and done. See ya there man,” Alvez moseyed to his car, tossing his keys between his hands as he went. Spencer waved back in acknowledgement, heading towards his own car.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Three varieties of pizza and several bottles of wine later, Emily and Penelope were draped across Garcia’s couch, while Tara took over the armchair, and JJ huddled into the bean bag next to the coffee table, cradling her glass of wine close to her chest.

“Emily,” Penelope drunk whispered (so the volume was really more suited to stagecraft than intimacy), “we should just stay like this forever. We should just spend our vacation on this couch, with pizza and Sergio and never leave.” Emily laughed, stoking Garcia’s hair like she was a cat herself.

“I should go to a beach,” JJ mused. “I haven’t been to a beach that didn’t involve corpses in years.”

“Ugh, I know!” Emily commiserated. “I thought for sure we could sneak in some time last time we were in California but no…” Emily drew out the vowel in a long mocking complaint. “‘Get your unit back right away chief. We want your report on the AD’s desk before tomorrow night chief.’ Blah blah blah.”

Garcia giggled at Emily’s robotic impersonation of the office bureaucrats. Then she nearly rolled off the couch in her excitement as her intoxicated brain attempted to communicate her newest scheme. JJ and Tara jumped to catch her, as Emily’s own laughter essentially pushed Garcia further towards the fuzzy carpet. “Guys, guys we should go! We” Penelope’s drink free hand flailed around to indicate she meant the friends surrounding her, “should go to the beach! Like, on a vacation!”

“You know,” Tara mused, “I could be up for that. Sun, sand, shirtless men…” she trailed off and swallowed any elaboration on her point with her next drag of wine.

“Exactly!” Garcia pointed her finger enthusiastically. “What she said!”

“Just a girls’ trip? I don’t know if I want to go away for too long without my boys, we get so little time off as it is.” JJ cut in.

“No, no, them too!” Penelope’s drunk excitement hadn’t been dulled but the planning oriented portion of her brain pushed past the alcohol wall to actually push her idea into the realm of a viable option. “All of us, girls, boys, JJ’s boys, like BAU goes to the beach. Like together!”

“If we can go somewhere close-ish I’m in, I just don’t feel like flying, we spend too much time on a jet,” Emily put in.

“Road trip! Even better!” Penelope clapped her hands incredibly enthusiastically as she ran to grab her laptop from the formica countertop of her kitchen, bringing another bottle of red with her in the same trip.

“Virginia has beaches, we can drive there, they literally have a place called Virginia. Beach. That’s totally a place we can go.” Garcia settled herself on the couch again with here laptop on the coffee table so everyone could see the screen while she googled options for beach rentals in Virginia Beach. JJ was already texting Will about asking for a week off.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

At the indecently early hour of 4:30 Spencer’s phone began vibrating against the base of the lamp it was resting against with entirely too much energy. The violent clattering sound jolted him awake and he grasped blindly for the offending noise, hoping to stop it before anyone else woke. This was not accomplished, however, as jerking his phone from the tabletop caused thee charging cord to topple the lamp onto the hardwood below, very effectively waking up the dog sleeping at the other end of the little room.

Roxy’s growling and Reid’s swearing and scrambling reached Luke in the next room, who stumbled incoherently towards the sleep disrupting noises.

“What the hell, man,” Luke grumbled, pulling a hand over his face to wipe the sleep from his eyes. His search for the noise lighted on Reid trying to untangle his phone from the lamp, while Roxy paced around him trying to grab at the wires as if they were chew toys. Luke batted Roxy away from Reid as the other agent finally managed to disengage his phone from its cable in order to answer it. The Caller ID on thee screen informed him who was making this irritatingly early call and he groaned.

“Garcia, if you tell me we have a case right now, I swear, I’m quitting.” Reid grunted as he settled himself on the floor with his back leaning into the couch that had been serving as his makeshift bed.

“Reid we’re on leave, we can’t have a case.”

“Well then there is no good reason for you to be calling me at-“ Reid pulled the phone away from his ear to check the time, “4:32 am.” Spencer was unconsciously mimicking Luke’s earlier gesture of rubbing his hand across his face to encourage his muscles to reawaken and help him process what the hell was going on. He caught Luke’s eye as he was petting Roxy on the other end of the couch.

“Garcia?” He mouthed, ruffling the fur behind Roxy’s ears. Spencer nodded and put the call onto speaker just as Penelope was protesting.

“No, this is a good reason. A totally good reason, I promise.”

“Garcia, how much have you had to drink?” Luke cut in, his louder than necessary voice causing Spencer to flinch.

“Wait why is Luke there, are you guys having a sleepover?!” Garcia squealed and ushered all the girls on her end closer to the phone.

“His couch was closer than my bed. Calm down.”

“No but you’re bonding, that’s great!”

“Garcia, was there a purpose for this call?” Spencer groaned, smooshing further into the cushions behind him.

“Yes, yes there is, vacation. We’re going on a family vacation!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Vacation. Us. BAU family. At a beach. BAU goes to a beach.”

“Genuinely, Garcia, how much have you had to drink?” Spencer laughed.

“That is immaterial to this discussion.”

Luke raised his eyebrows, impressed at Garcia’s ability to recall both that vocabulary and that serious tone this far into the wine bottle he assumed she had stationed next to her at this point.

“Pipe down newbie, I can hear your eyebrows from here.” Luke’s brows moved even further back into his rumpled hairline if that was at all possible. Spencer snorted his laughter into his fist. “But, you have distracted me from my totally awesome plan, which is vacation, which you’re coming to.”

“Where…” Spencer had long ago learned the prudence of being cautious but optimistic about most of Garcia’s plans for team morale and bond building.

“Virginia Beach.”

“Why…?” Spencer didn’t really understand what hat she was pulling this out of yet.

“Because we’re on leave and we all need a break and the beach is great and it’s not that far.” Penelope huffed, she didn’t like being doubted. Her plan was brilliant.

“You know, I’ve never actually been to the beach,” Spencer mused. A chorus of ‘what!s’ and exclamations shot through the tinny speaker on his phone, met with a completely perplexed expression from himself and Luke.

“What do you mean you’ve never been to the beach?” JJ slurred accusatorially.

“I mean, it’s not like Las Vegas is on the coast, guys.” Reid shrugged, he hadn’t thought of it as a big deal, clearly he was about to be corrected.

“Well that settles it” Garcia said, “the pasty professor is coming, he doesn’t get a choice anymore. You in newbie?” Spencer looked over at Luke, who was sitting fairly stunned, idly petting at the air where Roxy hadn’t been for a solid thirty seconds at least.

“Um… I guess?” His confirmation definitely sounded like more of a question but that didn’t stop Garcia.

“Great! I’ll text you the details and car pool set ups when I finish. Night night sleep tight!”

The line went dead and a discordant dial tone rang out for a moment before Spencer hung up on his end as well, shaking his head in amusement and exasperation but primarily exhaustion.

“What just happened?”

.....

#spencer reid #spencer #spencer x ofc #criminal minds fanfic #spencer reid fanfic #dr. spencer reid #Criminal Minds #mgg #matthew gray gubler #criminal minds; matthew gray gubler #fanfic #ffn #ao3

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